


Whatever Will Be, Will Be

by AnniKay



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Complete, F/M, Future Fic, M/M, Out With A Bang Big Bang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 16:18:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 107,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4311975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnniKay/pseuds/AnniKay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>World famous country/rock artist Sam Evans and the 2020 Grammy award winning R&B Artist Mercedes Jones  meet at a Grammy after party and find that had things gone just a little differently they would have met years before. However despite the obstacles in their path True Love refuses to be denied.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to KayBee80 & Illiandyanndra who have been Beta rock stars for all of my ten stories
> 
> Welcome to the wonderful JazMitch the latest to join my Beta Team!!!
> 
> Banner and Book Cover by the great and talented pitufa003! Merci Beaucoup
> 
>  
> 
> [](http://imgur.com/s1v4sAh)  
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Awesome FanMix by PatchFire  
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/jge12frph40qfly/WhateverWillBeWillBe.zip?dl=0
> 
> Disclaimer: I own Nothing…Murphy, Falchuk, and Brennen along with Fox and others own this fandom and all the characters there in…Anything you recognize obviously belongs to them

The Staples Center   
Sunday, February 9th, 2020  
The Grammy Awards

The night was full of the normal glitz and glamour. Mercedes Jones had been careful to ensure that she arrived not too early, and not at all late. She was trying valiantly not to look as excited as she felt, and that was made a lot easier by the presence of her best friend. Santana Lopez sat next to her in the limo, exhibiting every single ounce of giddiness that Mercedes was feeling. Mercedes looked over at Santana Ximena Lopez. Sometimes Mercy still found herself wondering how one of her biggest high school bullies had become her best friend. They had bonded over a common hatred of one of their classmates and their glee club director. For two years they had towed the party line…but when they had had the chance to leave the New Directions and establish the Troubletones, they had jumped on it immediately. They and their new director, Shelby Cochran, had realized that the two of them were stronger and more talented than either their classmate or former director had ever hoped or dreamed of being. 

“You know when I knew we were going to be here, like this, for you?” Santana’s voice interrupted Mercedes’ thoughts.

“No, when?” She asked, smirking at the way Santana had phrased the question. 

Santana smirked evilly at her friend. “Sophomore year when Ms. Pillsbury had control of the glee club…when you did ‘And I’m Telling You’…you were so good that poor Finn-a-tin-tin risked the wrath of the ManHands to cheer for you. We all loved every second of it. Hell, hearing you sing like that, then later getting to sing with you… that was the only reason I kept going back to glee club in the first place. Shit, I knew then that you were gonna be bigger than that Berry bitch ever would. Why do you think I let you talk me into going with you to the Troubletones?” she teased, winking good-naturedly. 

Mercedes laughed. She adopted a sassy tone and a barely there Spanish accent. “Because Santana Ximena Lopez is nobody’s backup singer.” She cut her friend a side eye. “If you were determined to latch onto my coat tails all the way back then, why did you still try to make my life hell for the rest of that year?” 

Santana gave her best friend a shrug they would both always refer to as a ‘Kanye Shrug’. “Well, I was fairly sure we’d get here after the ‘Dreamgirls’ song, was pretty positive after ‘Hate On Me’ and absolutely certain after ‘I Look To You’. Besides, the bully to bestie transformation had to be gradual for you to believe it.” She said it simply. “Who the hell knew it would actually be true.”

With a shake of her head and a wry grin, Mercedes pinned her friend with an assessing look. Kurt had designed both of their dresses for the evening. The short and curvy diva didn’t delude herself; Kurt had done so more to get himself some name recognition than out of a true sense of loyalty or friendship. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t done a great job. Kurt had put Santana in a gorgeous ruby silk gown.   
Most of the original New Directions would always consider red to be Santana’s signature color, and the girl did looked fierce in it. Kurt had given the dress a modified, slightly higher than usual, sweetheart neckline highlighting the bodice with gold embroidery and beading. The back was rather low, showing the smooth expanse of latte skin to just before Satan’s slender waist. The silk was given form with invisible boning and hidden underpinnings that made it mold to Tana’s curves to her natural waist. The skirt was a waterfall fit and flare that was gathered on the right and the sheen of the silk tempered with one panel of silk shantung in the same rich jewel tone. Santana’s hair had been swept up and away from her face, but then allowed to fall down her back in a waterfall of curls that seemed to mimic the fall of the silk of her dress. Her makeup and jewelry was as understated as her dress was eye catching. A simple diamond and ruby tennis bracelet and matching chandelier earrings stood alone drawing ones’ eye to her small wrists and beautiful face. Santana had begged, borrowed or stolen, she wouldn’t admit to which, the money for a pair of black suede Louboutin four inch stiletto pumps with architectural looking sides. Mercedes was sure that no one would ever convince Santana there was anyone there that Grammy night that looked better than she did. 

However, Mercedes would have been wrong on that front. Santana knew she looked good, but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Mercedes looked better. Kurt had gone old fashioned glam for Mercedes’ dress. It was a full skirted ball gown of gun metal gray charmeuse. The lustrous fabric of the dress was covered at the adapted strapless neckline with a swath of iris lace just wide enough to highlight the phenomenal swell of Mercedes’ ever more impressive breasts. The iris lace reappeared where the wide skirts of Mercedes’ dress had been cut and draped to show the lace overlaid charmeuse there as well. The cutaway of the skirt was topped with a round platinum and amethyst encrusted pin. The stones were also dripping off Mercedes’ ears and neck as well as being wrapped around both of her wrists and her upper arms as per the current trends. The on trend jeweled cuffs at her upper arms drew one’s eyes to her striking cleavage. 

The dress had a lace-up back that started right below mid back. Rather than using normal grommets for the lacing, Kurt had used smaller versions of the platinum and amethyst circle that highlighted the gown’s skirt. Mercedes hair was first done in an abundance of curls with straight side swept bangs. The curls were then pinned up into a complicated chignon that would be taken down for her two performances. Mercedes makeup was totally dramatic. Her doe eyes looked amazing, done in shades of purple and silver that opened them up and made them look both more alluring and more innocent. Her lips were lined in a lip stain MAC called sangria and then glossed in the very shiny purple they called ‘Dark as Night’. The color made her ‘dentist’s daughter’ smile look even brighter and whiter. Her shoes were Louboutins as well, the five inch high T-strap pumps had a plethora of the straps flowing from the central T back to the heel counter. Santana laughed. “Girl…Kathy Griffin is going to have to eat all kinds of crow on Fashion Police this week.” Tana teased. The Fashion Police comedienne had spent the seven months since Mercedes broke onto the scene complaining about Mercedes’ around the town fashions which were more about comfort and expediency than haute couture. 

Since Mercedes’ debut album had dropped too late for her to really be seen at the MTV Music Awards or the AMAs, and she had only been a preshow performer at the World Music Awards, this was the first time the new fashion maven would have to dissect a Mercedes Jones Red Carpet look. Cedes was going to very happily shove the redhead’s words down her throat. “Oh please. It’s been five years and she is still just a wannabe Joan Rivers,” she threw back to her friend. “Besides Kelly, George and Guiliana like my going out clothes. They all respect the fact that I am a diva no matter what I happen to have on my back.” 

“Georgy Porgy respects the fact that you have the biggest natural breasts to have graced the music industry in a long, long time. That guy is as bad about boobs as that rich boy Hummel used to date back in the day, Santana joked. “Man, can I just say how glad I am that fashion has swung back to respecting the music and the fans enough that the stars are expected to do it up big. All that understatedness or austerity, or ‘I’m too cool to dress up for the Grammys or AMAs or whatever’ got boring as hell.” Santana rolled her eyes, a small sneer crossing her lips.

“Could not agree with you more.” Mercedes laughed. “If they hadn’t gotten to this point by themselves, they would have after tonight. I’m going to be fly and divalicious on the red carpet, then I’m going to be all diva gorgeous and glam during the Chaka Khan tribute and supa dupa fly for my solo number.” 

“Are Kurt and Deja already backstage with the wardrobe and hair change stuff?” Santana asked as the driver signaled that they were finally the next car to disembark. She cast eyes over Mercedes happy to see that the drive over from the nearby hotel they had used to get ready hadn’t mussed the diva up. 

“Yup. Deja’s says she has everything ready for the hair and makeup changes and Kurt’s already arranged to have drinks with Carrie Underwood’s stylist. He’s happy.” They exchanged exasperated looks. Kurt had become a serial dater after he graduated FIT. They knew he would date the new guy for a while, find some reason he wasn’t perfect any longer- a reason that had always been true- and dump the poor guy. Yes, he was their friend, but that just meant they knew his faults better than anyone.

“For the moment,” Santana returned as the door to the limo opened. One of the Awards interns helped both young women from the limo. Tana quickly twitched Cedes’ skirt into perfect position and they were off. 

The red carpet was nothing like they’d expected and yet, simultaneously, everything they had dreamed of. First there was a gauntlet of fans, paparazzi and security trying to keep the other two groups off the stars and starlets and from killing each other. Then there were the more creditable photojournalists from noted fashion mags and shows. Mercedes was the epitome of graciousness. She stopped and had a ready smile and kind word for all of them. When she got to the E! 360 booth, Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Osborne were waiting. “Mercy My O My…you are looking amazing tonight.” Ryan began nicely. He had interviewed Mercedes several different times and had coined the nickname on his radio show. 

“Thanks Ryan,” she returned sweetly. “It’s nice to know that I clean up well.”

Ryan chuckled. “Clean up well…Mercy you are beautiful at five o’clock in the morning…you are just looking even better right now.” 

Santana laughed from the side. “You’re lucky she comes in to the studio at all because Mercedes hates early mornings. If she didn’t like you so much, she would probably just phone it in from her bed.” 

“Is that why you always come with her, Santana? To make her rise and shine?” Ryan laughed. “I assumed it was because I always buy the two of you breakfast afterwards. Come out for the camera, you are looking very lovely too.”

Santana literally walked out, waved and turned in a circle so they could see all of Kurt’s creation and slipped quickly off camera. “We’re both wearing Kurt Hummel original designs. There Hummer…I said your name, now Ryan, you may pay attention to the star.” Santana smirked as Ryan and Cedes grinned at her last barb at their old classmate and friend.

“Always.” Ryan continued charmingly. “So Mercy, this is your first Grammy awards and Congratulations. You are up for nine categories, are you nervous?”

Mercedes carefully contemplated her words before answering. “Yes and no. I’m very blessed. God has given me the opportunity to follow my dreams. I believe that if he means for me to win tonight, I will. Now that isn’t to say that I’m not doing my part. I have my acceptance speeches all written out and ready.” Mercedes chuckled without an ounce of self-consciousness. “I’ve always lived my life by one ideal…with prayer and preparation I can achieve it all through Christ who strengthens me.”

Ryan nodded with a smile. “That reminds me. My mother wants me to thank you for convincing me to start praying again.” 

***  
The Staples Center  
Sunday, February 9th, 2020   
Los Angeles, CA

The world watched and fell just a little more in love with the diva as she threw back her head and laughed in total, unabashed delight. Further down the red carpet a young man, a security professional, who was walking the carpet with his boss who had become one of his best friends, stopped and listened. “I know that laugh anywhere. That sounds like Sexy Mama.” Noah Puckerman crowed to his boss, Grammy award winning country artist Sam Evans. “I told you about her. She’s up for like half of everything tonight.”

Sam nodded. Puck had told him about his classmates the ones he’d known through his participation in the school’s glee club a lot in the time since he had become Sam’s chief security officer. The two, similarly aged men had well and truly bonded despite the fact that Sam had been very much against his label’s and his mother’s desire for him to have a dedicated security person. He truly felt that he could well defend himself from anything at all, until someone pointed out that usually almost all stalkers and superfans were of the opposite sex of the star. Sam was a born and bred southern gentleman. He had a hard time being mean to a female let alone fighting one. He’d interviewed several prospective body guards…most were Hollyweird natives who had worked in the industry for years. They had all seemed way too pretentious or far to club/party oriented. Then this guy had walked in with barely any hair, a guitar case on his back and a duffle bag in his hand. Sam and Noah had hit it off immediately and their ‘broship’ was sealed when they found out that they had both attended high school only a few miles apart. 

Through their friendship, Puck had gotten to see more of the inner workings of the music industry than he would have ever thought possible. He even got songwriting credits on a few songs he’d helped Sam work kinks out of. Having heard him sing, Sam was constantly barraging the Lima born Badass to let him introduce him to some execs. Noah Puckerman would never be a country singer, that much was true, but old school blues and rock both sounded great when sung by the former military man. But Puck always laughed it off with a smirk and an amused, casual, “Dude, I don’t have the chops for it. I don’t have the patience for it. I’m good being the entourage guy. All the benefits of fame, none of the cameras trying to catch me taking a shit.”

Sam hadn’t been able to argue with that sentiment. It made quite a lot of sense, though he did feel that Puck’s voice was probably better than the former Marine gave himself credit for. However, Sam forced himself to pay attention as they entered the E!360. He and Ryan Seacrest had bonded years before when Sam was new to Hollywood and feeling homesick. After an interview Ryan had taken the other southern boy to Carolyn’s Kitchen, a soul food restaurant that combined the very best of soul/southern cooking with a traditional southern meat and two sides kind of buffet. The very ambiance of the place seemed designed to soothe a southern soul. Best of all no matter how famous or whatever you were, they treated you exactly the same…as a poor hungry soul in need of feeding. It was damn refreshing, to tell the truth.

“Man, Sam. I hate to say it…but you are looking smooth tonight. Who did you go with?” Ryan chuckled after the two men had exchanged the usual pleasantries. 

Sam gave him an ‘aw shucks’ smile. “Simple, classic Gucci tux and shoes.” He said with a grin. “Puck managed to talk me into buying him a Brioni…” 

“I didn’t talk you into anything,” Puck retorted with a cheeky grin. “You lost the bet. You didn’t believe me when I said that Sexy Mama would get nominated for every R&B category. That was on you…and if she wins more than six tonight you best to believe that you’re ponying up for that Ducati. A bet is a bet, man…I just play to win.”

Ryan laughed. He listened for a moment to his assistant in his ear piece. “Noah Puckerman, formerly of the US Marines. Served with distinction and now head of security for Sam Evans, and apparently man of expensive tastes…come on out and show the world how a Brioni tux is supposed to look. And explain to us all who Sexy Mama is.”

Puck came out and with much the same attitude Santana displayed less than half an hour before did a quick turn. “I do make this look good. But hey, if you’re making a bet with a rich man, and you’re just a lowly servant, you better make sure that you win something you can’t buy for yourself.” He smirked to the amusement of Ryan, Kelly and Sam. “And Sexy Mama is what I’ve called Mercedes Jones since we play dated for a hot minute back in our sophomore year of high school.” 

Kelly looked at him closely. “You were the one in her pictures that had the Mohawk? Her friend that was serving in Afghanistan last time she came on Fashion Police. She made us all pray for you.” 

Puck nodded, becoming slightly more serious even as his eyes retained the genuine affection he obviously held for the diva. “And I thank her and all of you for that. I came way too close to not coming back from that last tour. But I’m gonna be honest with you…I have only seen Cedes’ prayers fail once, and that was probably only because he was gone before she could do anything but pray it wasn’t true. Probably she’s the reason I came back, not just, not under a flag, but whole.” He spoke solemnly. 

“Wow, Puck, I wasn’t sure you even believed in God,” Sam said quietly, forgetting the crowd and the audience in light of his friend’s earnest confession. He’d noticed that though Puck identified as proudly Jewish, he rarely if ever went to temple and he never paid attention when he had to accompany Sam into his church. 

Puck both blushed and shrugged. “I believe,” he said simply. “I believe in God, I believe in Mercedes Jones’ deep and abiding faith…and I believe that Cedes is gonna sweep at least the R&B category.” He shot back testily to cover his embarrassment. “Now go and do the 360, there is a line forming.” 

Ryan and Kelly laughed heartily. But Sam was quickly through the Entertainment channel’s area and on to the rest of the gauntlet. Since Sam wasn’t dating anyone and he had learned not to just take anyone, and his mother was with his little brother as he was playing in a state championship game for the first time, Sam had brought Puck as his plus one. The Evans’ PR guru had despaired that the country music fans might think he was gay but Sam had only laughed. There was more than enough evidence showing the fallacy of that supposition, so Sam was unconcerned. As the show started, Sam thought back to his first Grammy attendance a few years before. 

He had only released his debut album eight months before, just days before the cut off for entry into the Grammy awards selection group. And just fifteen months before that he’d been a star collegiate quarterback hoping to get drafted into the NFL, only to tear out his rotator cuff and his ACL on the same bad play. That had been the end of that dream. He’d just been lucky that it had been after the semester change and the second semester of his junior year had already been paid for. He came out with an associate’s degree in composition and started writing his own songs and going to every open mic night or talent show or showcase within driving distance of his grandparent’s farm outside Nashville. He’d gotten a deal and he hadn’t cared that it was mostly based on his looks. When the call came in it had been just days after burying his grandfather, he had prayed and prayed for a way to help his grandmother be able to keep the farm, which didn’t have a mortgage, but it was too much for her to manage with just his part time assistance. He’d worked his ass off on that first album. Written old school country songs, songs about his loneliness, his desperation…the farm…they had resonated well with country radio and his record sales had soared. He’d never been so proud as he had been when he’d walked the red carpet with his MeeMaw and was able to thank her in his speech as he won his very first Grammy of the night. He had been devastated when she passed away just a month later, but mollified by the fact that he knew she had died knowing that her farm would stay in the family and that it would be there for generations if Sam had anything to say about it. He had always known that she was proud of him, so that wasn’t a concern for him…his family would have been proud of him for just about anything as long as he tried his hardest and gave it his all. He had definitely done that when it came to his music. He had won two of the five Grammys he’d been up for that night. 

Sam was brought out of his reverie as LL Cool J, the show’s host for almost a decade, introduced the opening act for the night. Kelly Rowland did a great job with her performance of her new song, but though he was clapping enthusiastically at the end, he hadn’t really paid a lot of attention to it. Then Miranda Lambert and Ariel Winter announced the Best New Artist category. Puck was squeezing Sam’s arm in anticipation as they read off his old classmate and friend’s name. “And the Grammy for best new artist goes to…Mercedes Jones.” 

“Whooohoooo!!!” Puck yelled, jumping up and clapping very, very aggressively, not paying an ounce of attention to the stares of amusement he was garnering nor giving a flying fuck at what others thought of his enthusiasm. “You go Sexy Mama.” 

Two sections of seats away, Mercedes and Santana were embracing in joy and happiness. When they heard Puck’s voice over the more polite reactions, they both looked around, but Mercedes had to get up and head to the stage. She carefully ascended the steps and hugged both of the presenters. “Oh…oh…Okay. Um… Lord thank you, God, for allowing me to win this. I think I heard my friend Pucky-Puck somewhere in the crowd…so thank you Lord for bringing him home from his deployment safe and sound too. Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliot, thank you for taking a chance and backing me when everyone else said I was too thick, too black or just plain too much. I want to thank my mother and my father. My older brother Montravious…All my fans, my manager Toni, I want to thank Shelby Cochran for helping me to believe when it seemed like I was never going to get out of someone else’s shadow. Thank you so much.” She laughed merrily. “I hoped and dreamed, but this is more than I ever thought…Kids believe in yourselves…even when it seems like there is no way and the path is dark. If you believe in you others will too…maybe not everyone…but,” Mercedes threw a cheeky grin back at Arielle as she remembered a line the other woman had delivered on the role that had made her famous. It also didn’t help that it had a special meaning for the New Directions too, “Don’t stop believing.” 

Puck settled down into his seat smiling as if it had been his name that was called. The next award presented was the best pop duo or group performance, and since the return of the girl group the preceding year, the whole category was filled with them. Little Mix took the win for that. Then LL threw to Mary J. Blige who introduced Mercedes with glowing yet completely sincere accolades. The short chocolate diva came up through the floor as her band started the opening strains to her third single. ‘Leave a Light On’ . The song was a throwback to the late two thousands, early twenty tens R&B sound. It was fun and upbeat, belying the song’s deep lyrical support of monogamy and faithfulness. Sam was watching the stage with rapt attention that he hadn’t given the previous performance of the night. When Mercedes had climbed the stage to get her award, Sam had thought she looked quite angelic. In the beautiful ball gown she had looked like a princess. She was very beautiful, but seemed almost too perfect to be real. But her solo performance look was anything but angelic.

Mercedes stepped down off the elevator the lights glinted off her metallic silver split front booties. Then the lights flowed up a longer than believable given her lack of height pair of chocolate legs with strong, shapely calves and thick, smooth thighs that Sam had to admit made his mouth water, before finally encountering the wickedly short hemline of her ‘deconstructed’ blue and green paisley print mini dress. The dress hugged each of her curves making her ass seem even more luscious and her breasts larger and more voluminous. As she sang Sam found himself mesmerized by her large, glossy deep red lips. The words dropped from his lips without thought or consent. “She’s fucking gorgeous.” 

“Oh man,” Puck laughed. “Sexy Mama is even hotter than she was when I gave her the nickname…but Sam, man…I don’t know if you’re her type.”

Sam cut a hard look at his friend, inexplicably aggravated. “What? I’m not good enough for your friend?” 

Puck shook his head. “Naw. You’re a good guy, mostly. But the only guy that she ever dated in high school was huge and had skin even darker than hers. They dated our senior year. There haven’t even been rumors of her with anybody since and I’m not talking about rumors in the tabloids, but among the New Directions. My boy Finn is her stylist’s stepbrother. If she dated anybody he’d have told Finn and Finn can’t hold water.” 

Sam mentally sighed. He hadn’t had a reaction that strongly to a woman in a long ass time. “Still, I’d love to just meet her. That voice. It’s like it…” 

“Like it makes your nerve endings tingle. Like it makes your ears wanna run away with her vocal cords and elope. Like just listening to her sing works better than Viagra.” Puck said pointedly. “I spent three years straight feeling that way. I’d go through two sometimes three of the MILFs in Lima after every Glee rehearsal. Most of the straight guys in the club felt the same.” 

After Mercedes solo performance, Sam and Puck enthusiastically led the standing ovation. Adele, Sam Smith, Nelly and Kelley Rowland all got gold statues. Then Sam’s name was called for the first time that night. He was nominated and won for both record of the year and best country album. He came up on the stage and began by thanking God and his fans. He thanked his family, people and his fans. Then he closed with a smile. “And Miz Jones…just wanna relieve your mind, yes, that is your friend Puck. He’s right proud of you and I almost hate to root against you, but I really don’t want to have to buy him a Ducati.” He joked. 

The audience loved his speech and, later, his black jeans and a white Henley clad performance of his hit song ‘Beautiful Girl’. Much like Mercedes’ his digital sales skyrocketed by the end of the broadcast. Soon he was back in his seat realizing that he was going to lose Song of the Year. He was up against both Mercedes and Adele. He was quite surprised that when Kenny Chesney and Hayley Kiyoko read off Mercedes’ name rather than his own, he didn’t feel any envy or jealousy. In fact he clapped almost as hard as Puck did. Puck was really grateful that Sam seemed happy for his old friend; it could have gotten hairy if the new friend/boss had gotten pissed. Mercedes thanked a lot more people, including Santana, Noah and Kurt and Missy and her people again. There was another performance, then LL Cool J introduced the head of the Recording Academy and Mayim Bialik who read the list of the non-televised awards. Sam had won his other two country specific awards, only the fact that he wasn’t in the running in the duo or group category kept him from sweeping that set. Mercedes had won every R&B award except the Urban Contemporary which went to Kelly Rowland. 

The In Memorium section rolled and their intrepid host introduced Clay Aiken and Anastasia who introduced the Grammy’s Lifetime achievement award that was being award to Chaka Khan. They played a video dedicated to telling the story of Chaka’s fifty years in the industry. Jazmine Sullivan came out in a knee length gold mididress and launched into ‘Tell Me Something Good’, Chaka Khan’s first Grammy award winning song. She threw to Adele, who was resplendent in a tea length sapphire blue frock, singing ‘Got to Be There’. Adele called Mercedes forth, the chocolate diva wore a floor length slinky sliver evening gown and together all three of them gave the audience ‘Ain’t Nobody’ before Mercedes launched into a solo version of ‘I Feel for You’. She called forward Jeanette McCurdy, who joined the other songstresses wearing a pretty emerald green mini dress, and together they all sang ‘Missing You’ before Jeanette finished them off with ‘Angel’. Chaka was very kind to all of them hugging them and thanking them profusely. 

It was then time for the last award of the night…album of the year. Once again Sam was prepared to lose. He was again up against both Mercedes and Adele, but that time Adele took the golden statue. There were still interviews to be done so by the time the two different duos of friends, and entourages, made it back to their hotel rooms there was barely enough time to get changed and make their way to the Los Angeles Convention Center where the official Grammy After Party was being held. Puck spent some time texting with his old friends to get Santana’s number. He was determined to catch his girls at the after party. While he was at it, he also managed to get his hands on Rachel Berry’s cell number; he just knew that Santana would love getting her hands on it too. Oh the pranks they would play, however, Puck had a brand new reason for wanting it too. The fact that Mercedes had won a Grammy before Rachel had won a Tony was too good not to crow about.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)

Whatever Will Be, Will Be   
Chapter 2

The Los Angeles Convention Center  
Sunday, February 9th, 2020   
Los Angeles, CA

Sam Evans had been looking forward to the Grammy after party since it had been announced that Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert were going to perform. His stylist had planned his look and he knew that he was looking like understated elegance in a simple black blazer and slacks with a white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He’d put away his uncomfortable dress shoes and donned his favorite black Chuck Taylors. As they rode down in the hotel elevator, he looked over at Puck’s dressed down look. His head of security was in a pair of well worn, well-fitting jeans that were just dark enough to look like they were that shade of gray on purpose, a small check black and white shirt, dark gray vest and black tie. Since he considered the after party more work than the actual awards ceremony, Puck was wearing his steel toed boots with their hidden knife holster. 

They got into the limo with two members of Puck’s hand picked and trained crew. Roger Wilson, aka Slick, and Nigel Marchal who they all called Trigger, were both former LAPD who had found themselves pushed out by the fact that they felt that all human life had value. “Alright Slick, Trigger…Puck’s liable to find his high school friends in this crowd. If he does, I want you two to step up and let him have time to talk to them. That being said, this is primarily an industry crowd…a few hundred various contest winners, so nothing really to worry about.” Sam told them honestly. “If Momma and Puck hadn’t insisted that he have backup you’d still have the night off.” 

Puck shook his head, his eyes somber, conveying to all his professionalism and care for the job. “You might not currently have an active stalker that we know of, but you collect crazy broads like you collect comic books. It’s better safe than sorry.” 

Sam shook his head. “None of them have been violent,” he defended his voice so petulant it was almost a whine. 

Slick laughed at that. “Sam, man, didn’t one of them bribe their way into you hotel room, what do you think would have happened if you’d been alone when you went in there?” 

“I’d have talked her down like I did that one that managed to bribe her way into my dressing room.” Sam retorted, feeling smug for having a response. 

“Sam, she was butt butterball naked and had ropes and a Taser. Pretty sure all you would have done was woken up tied to that bed with ol’ girl ridin’ you like Zorro. Probably bareback hoping to get preggers so she could really have a come up.” Puck gleefully shot back. “Let us take care of you. I can talk to Cedes and Tana and still have your back. You can reminisce about good old Lima with us.” 

They found that the night was uniquely suited to allow for Puck’s plan. After making their way down another red carpet, the photographers even grabbing solo pictures of Puck for some reason- at least several of the female ones did- they made their way into the convention center to the ‘concourse hall’. There were five dinner stations, buffets, around the room with white table cloth covered tables clustered near them. Each table sat ten. Puck and Sam had gotten their food and were sitting at a table; Sam was trying to convince the very much working Slick and Trigger to join them, when Puck received a text message alert. He smiled and shot back with their location in the rather massive room. Trigger, Slick and Sam all smiled as Puck seemed to get more antsy and impatient as the moments passed by. Finally he stood up and looked around. He calmed when he noticed a huge mountain of a black man clearing the way for a small party of four.

The new Grammy winner was accompanied by a tall, thin and very dapper man about the same age as Mercedes, Sam and Noah. Puck laughed as he caught sight of him. “Damn, Hummel is still the best dressed male in any room. Bet you money that suit is Prada or Alexander McQueen or somebody else whose name even I know.” He pointed to a shorter Latina in a heated conversation with the rather obviously gay man. “Santana Lopez, my fellow reformed sex shark. It took the love of two good women to show the two of us that we actually could find peace in a monogamous relationship.” Sam smirked at that. He’d heard some of Puck’s stories. He knew that the security professional was hoping to find his one in five billion, but he also knew that that didn’t keep him from testing out more than a few Ms. Right Nows while on his quest for Mrs. Right. Sam noticed that the girl with the light mocha skin was wearing one hell of a dress. The top portion was red with black embroidery, from the slightly high waist line the pin pleated skirts were leather and embossed with blood red scrollwork. She was wearing, what he would have recognized as the same Louboutins from earlier in the evening, had he seen her at the Grammys. 

Talking with Santana and Kurt there stood a tall, slender figure of Mercedes’ hairstylist and makeup guru. The woman(?), Sam was not quite sure, was tall, and in heels that made her even taller she stood shoulder to shoulder with the group’s bodyguard. Her hair flowed down her back in long, blonde sista locks, her makeup was flawless and truly pretty, but she had no discernible breasts and little other curves, though she was wearing a lovely, halter top black crepe jumpsuit with crystal details at the neckline and the cut out above the waist. Puck shrugged. “Jones will have to introduce us to her and or him. Don’t know the last, I’m just gonna go with, person,” he nodded decisively.

Behind her Mercedes came wear a retro one shoulder, seventies inspired layered cocktail dress in a gorgeous shade of apricot that glowed against her chocolate brown skin. One’s eyes couldn’t help but follow as the soft material flowed over the short diva’s lush, full curves. The dress had an asymmetrical hem that started a few inches above her knees on one side and slinked all the way to swirl around her black cut out stiletto heeled evening booties on the other. Her hair was still curly as it had been for all three of the outfit changes at the awards show, but while at the show it had been up and then down, now it was pulled into a low side ponytail that drew Sam’s eye unerringly to the shoulder that was bare of the bold colored georgette or chiffon. Her makeup was almost nonexistent, her eyes looked bare except for the long, impossibly thick lashes framing her deep brown eyes. When Sam’s eyes fastened on her lips he unconsciously licked his own as he wondered what the champagne glossed lips would taste like under his. 

Sam didn’t know what to do with the huge amounts of lust that seemed to rush through him whenever he looked at Mercedes. He was not a total horndog, and yet, he hadn’t even been introduced to the woman and he was already imagining how she would taste on his tongue, how his name would sound coming in gasps and screams from her throat. He shook off the arousing thoughts and greeted Puck’s friends. “Congratulations Jones.” Noah crowed hugging his friend tightly. Sam forced the surge of jealousy down. The emotion completely surprised him with its rapid and fierce presence. “I knew that you were gonna make it. Stupid fuckin’ Schue.” He laughed. 

“Pucky-Puck, You know I stopped paying attention to that man long time ago.” she drawled back teasingly. Her face grew somber as she looked him over, even going so far as to pull up both his pants legs. “I am so glad you made it home okay.” 

He smiled reassuringly. “I’m Puck…STD couldn’t get me…neither could IEDs.” 

Mercedes chuckled. “Boy please, you had people praying for you. Your mom, Sophia, and your Grandmother all prayed the whole time you were being a man whore that you wouldn’t bring home anything incurable. All of them, plus me, Jake and anybody we could get to pray was praying for you while you were serving. You know you hate following orders and have real impulse control problems, what on earth made you join the Marines for Christ’s sake? The Army…maybe. The Navy; strange but doable. The Air Force…that would have been all you! But the most strict of all of them…why Puck?”   
There was genuine curiosity in the short woman’s beautiful eyes, now trained on the veteran.

He shrugged. “The Marines are badass, Cedes. You know if I’m gonna do something, it’s gotta be badass.” 

Santana spoke up with a big smirk. “So how many ways to kill someone with a paperclip am I missing?”

The reactions around the table were so varied. Sam, Trigger and Slick all chuckled believing it to be a joke. However, Puck and Mercedes’ entire entourage simply looked curious, though Kurt’s face was more horrified fascination than just plan curiosity. “Only about seven. Though you have come up with a few they never thought of…actually, they may have thought of them, but they are definitely against the Geneva Conventions.” 

“Okay…wow.” Sam breathed. “Maybe I should hire her to handle my security. At least she can hit a girl,” he joked. 

Puck threw back his lead in laughter. “I might not be able to hit a chick, but I don’t have to hit her to take her out.” 

“Ain’t that the truth? Remember that freshman Cheerio that he smiled at and she walked into that open locker so hard she gave herself a concussion?” Kurt taunted. “Then Lauren, that was the girl he was dating at the time,” he explained for Sam and Puck’s other new friends, “waited until she healed up and gave her another one.” 

“Any way…Let me introduce you guys to my boss before you get me fired. Sam Evans, this is Mercedes Jones, winner of way too many MTV Music awards, AMAs, and other awards and brand new six time…”

“Nope…seven, you forgot that one in the gospel performance and song category for her remake of Vince Gill’s ‘Go Rest High on That Mountain’.” Santana piped up. 

“I’m surprised that you know who Vince Gill is, Lopez.” Puck teased. 

Tana rolled her eyes. “He’s the dude that stood up to those Westboro Baptist bastards and he makes one hell of mean barbeque sauce.” 

“Well allow me to say congratulations to the very beautiful, Miss Jones?” Sam tried for nonchalance, but everyone there could hear the question in his comment. 

“Thank you very much, Mr. Evans, and congratulations to you as well. Four Grammys tonight yourself.” Mercedes gave him a wide happy smile. 

It was the first time that night Sam had seen that smile directed solely at him. A memory tickled his mind before blossoming into full bloom in his mind’s eye. “You’re the double-pepperoni-and-as-many-black-olives-as-we-can-get-away-with-giving-you. Every other Friday night my whole senior year.” He looked thoughtful for a second before returning his gaze to hers. “622 Mulholland Drive.”

Santana and Mercedes exchanged a look, “I used to order that from Falcone’s Pizza.” She said shyly. Realization dawned slowly on her, shining in her eyes like dawn breaking over the sky. “You used to have longer, blonder hair?” 

“I thought I recognized those lips.” Santana crowed. “I wrote a whole song about your Trouty Mouth. Puck, your boss was the pizza delivery guy that Quinn kept trying, and epically failing, to seduce.” 

“The Bieber looking guy she was convinced would make Finn so jealous.” Kurt laughed. “It probably would have worked. You, Sam Evans, are very fine.” 

“Well, thank you kindly.” Sam joked fluttering his eyelashes like a Southern Belle of old. “I just remember that you had the brightest, prettiest smile and it made your eyes sparkle. I wasn’t like a stalker or anything,” he hastened to reassure her, blushing lightly.

Mercedes laughed. “I didn’t think you were…God knows I placed that order enough times for everyone who worked there that year to have it memorized. That was my traditional reward for not killing Rachel Berry in high school. The weeks I didn’t order pizza, I either didn’t make it through the week without having to threaten to cut her or take her to the carpet, or my parents were home so we had real food.” She explained to her assembled friends. 

“No wonder once we formed the Troubletones you dropped weight so fast. You were eating to keep yourself from killing the bitch and to reward yourself for not killing the bitch.” Santana rolled her eyes. 

“You probably should have just killed her. Between the two of us we could have figured out how to make it at least look like a suicide, if not an accident.” Kurt smirked. He had never forgiven Rachel for kissing Blaine and confusing the poor guy. The happy gay relationship had never been quite the same before it had finally imploded while Kurt was at FIT. There were other more egregious sins, but those hurt too much to even think about on such a happy occasion.

“Would have done the world a favor. It was bad enough that she ruined Funny Girl’s revival, but that TV show pilot of hers was absolutely horrible.” The tall woman said. 

Mercedes suddenly realized that she hadn’t introduced the other half of her style team to the rest of the party. “I’m so sorry. Puck, Sam…this is Deja Marlowe. She is my good friend and the other half of my style team. Deja, this is Noah Puckerman, Sam Evans, and his two other security consultants that I don’t know the names of yet.”

“Sorry, Cedes, Santana, Kurt, Deja, this is Trigger and Slick. My crew.”

“Trigger, Slick, and Puck…man Puckerman if I didn’t know that you were packin’ throw ‘em over your shoulder size man parts, I’d be forced to wonder if your nicknames were trying to compensate for tiny dicks.” Santana chortled. 

Puck just flicked her off and offered to give her a reminder. That caused round of laughter among all of them. The new arrivals quickly took their turn grabbing their dinner from the dinner station that boasted a menu which was designed using locally grown meat, produce and cheese, when possible, and all sustainably produced seafood. Mercedes was far more efficient than Sam at getting her ‘bodyguard’ Tank, and Sam’s two other ‘guards’ to join them for dinner. Soon the nine of them were chatting, learning more about each other, reminiscing, and catching up. Kurt and Deja found that both Slick and Trigger were good conversationalists while Santana and Puck watched as Sam and Mercedes flirted back and forth shyly. 

***

Santana leaned over, “is your boy on the up and up?” she asked quietly

Puck nodded. “Sam’s a good guy.” He told her honestly. Though the truth was that he was a little conflicted. He cared for Mercedes in a way he didn’t care for many females. She was a sister in his heart every bit as much as Sophia. He wanted her happy, but he also wanted to make sure that she never got hurt. Unfortunately he had learned long ago, there could be no reward with our some risk. “I’ve been working for him for a while, but I’ve never seen him act like this.”

Santana chuckled. “You know how she can be. She doesn’t know it. I bet you that she thinks he’s just a nice guy, and they’ll talk for tonight, maybe even be friends…but she isn’t gonna see what we see.” 

“He wants her. He wants her bad.” Puck agreed. 

“Lots of guys want her and want her bad…but this is the first one since high school it’s looked like she wants back.” Tana said with a smile. 

Puck turned and looked at Santana in disbelief. “I know Tinsley didn’t get that look. I watched his big ass like a hawk. I knew two Cheerio who both thought they caught something itchy from his ass.” He growled. Very few of the New Directions had liked Shane and, despite his part in their inception, none of the Troubletones had cared for him either. “You telling me in the seven years since we graduated, Sexy Mama hasn’t dated anybody else?”

Santana shook her head sadly. “Every guy who shows an interest in her ends up friend zoned because she figures that they just don’t see her like they do. Hell, I even checked to see if she was feelin’ the lady lovin… but she just thinks everyone still sees her like the idiot boys at McKinley saw her.” 

Puck sighed deeply. He still had a lot of guilt over his parts in making Jones and Hummel feel so fucking isolated their first couple of years of high school. “Too bad she couldn’t hear us in the locker room. Those lips of hers got more discussion than Quinn’s legs, your pussy and Brittany’s ass combined. Let alone the rest of her.”

“Remember when Kurt’s rich friend at Dalton created that fan club about her ass.” The fiery Latina laughed. 

“Remember? Hell, I’m still a member. Did you know that now they have a full fledged website with membership fees and everything?” he shot back with a grin. 

Santana looked thoughtful. “Is that where the fans are getting those ‘Dat Ass Tho’ shirts from?” 

Puck nodded. “I have two of them; one from back in the day when he was selling them round Lima and Central and then he sent me one of the new ones when he heard I was back stateside. David is good people.” He looked over at Mercedes. “So you telling me that Sexy Mama is still a virgin?” 

Santana shrugged. “She says she wants to stay one until she gets married. That’s what she was raised to believe. I think she figures if she pulls herself out of the running, it won’t hurt if no one is chasing. Only problem is that she is so busy not running the race, she can’t see all the motherfuckers drooling over her on the sideline.”

Puck arched an eyebrow. “That was one fucked up metaphor, but I get what you’re saying.” 

***

Around the table Mercedes and Sam were conversing just as intently. “So since your southern accent is clearly real, how did a good country boy end up in pitiful Lima Ohio?” she teased as they ate. 

Sam laughed at the Mae West accent she affected trying for a southern one. “My dad’s job transferred him to Lima the start of my junior year of high school.”

“That’s cool. Which school did you go to? I remember looking around school for you after you’d delivered to the house a few times, but I never saw you.” She asked wondering belatedly if she had admitted too much.

Sam tamped down the inner joy he experienced when he realized that she’s actually wondered about him back when her smile had first captivated him. “I went to Lima Central Catholic School. I’m dyslexia’s poster boy for a reason, and LCC was a lot better about teacher to student ratios and special needs assistance programs.” He answered honestly. 

“Wow. You don’t seem like a parochial school kid…you seem too normal.” She smiled to make her words the joke they were intended as. 

“It’s not all like ‘Saved’ or “Heaven Help Us’. It was just a normal school, we did wear uniforms and everything…but we had football and cheerleaders. Don’t get me wrong it was way better than the boarding school I went to in Tennessee, but I had hoped for the whole textbook/movie high school experience. Sure didn’t get that. Nobody got oral sex anywhere on campus like I heard happens in public schools.” 

“So catholic school girls aren’t all rebellious easy lays, and the boys aren’t all rigorously closeted homosexuals? Movies have really lead me astray, just like they did you.” She shot back. “No, for real, very, very few people ever got any kind of sex on campus at McKinley…and two of the ones who actually did are sitting across the table.” Mercedes laughed merrily. Sam almost groaned at the way her laughter played across his nerve endings as if it were a physical thing. He wished he could figure out some way to tell her that had he been at McKinley, he would have done his damnedest to try to convince her to have joined that number too. Mercedes was oblivious to the hunger that lit a fire behind the emerald of his eyes. “How did you end up delivering pizzas? I mean I thought the Lima Catholic kids were all members at the same country club as my parents and the Fabrays.” 

Astonishingly Sam realized that he didn’t want to give the ‘developing a good work ethic’ line his PR people had come up with to explain why he’d worked so much in high school and even in college. Instead he told Mercedes the complete truth. “We’d been living in Lima for about seven months when my mom got laid off. Then boom Dad got laid off too. It got so bad we lost the house and had to live in a little no tell motel off State Road 65. It didn’t seem like anybody was willing to hire my parents, they were ‘overqualified’, whatever the hell that meant, for most places that were hiring and both of their fields got hit hard with the recession. I have a little brother and sister. I could get a job and it fed them…what little Mom and Dad got in unemployment kept us in the room. We were all in catholic schools, and thankfully they had programs to help us.”

While compassion shone in Mercedes’ eyes, it wasn’t pity, and only at that moment did Sam realize the vitally important distinction between the two. “Damn. That had to suck. But it shows that you’re a good son, a good big brother…a good man. You should turn it into a song. Country is the perfect genre for it…well that or R&B.” Mercedes said gently. 

“Speaking of songs…your first single ‘Colorblind’ it was so beautiful. The words are so touching, but the way your voice weaves emotion into every bar of the music…it’s just a thing of beauty.” He ducked his head embarrassed that he’d gushed like that. 

Mercedes smiled shyly. “That’s how I feel about ‘Lightning’…it’s a very difficult subject matter to tackle…the death penalty and singing from the point of view of the man condemned to death but who understands exactly why and feels the remorse of his actions.” She sighed. “It was so well written and the slight raw quality to your voice on that last chorus…you done good, Sam.” 

Sam felt himself start to beam at the words of praise. “So you like country?” 

“I like music. Country, R&B, some alternative, anything with great lyrics and good musicianship.” 

“Well you know,” Sam checked his watch. “Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are getting ready to start a split set in the other room.” He rose to his feet and looked down into her beautiful brown eyes. “I really have to say, Mercedes, you look beautiful tonight. Would you like to dance?”

Shyly she looked up and smiled. “Sure.” She took his hand and both of them paused for a moment as lightning coursed through their veins. The connection that had been sparking between them caught hold and took root. Sam helped Mercedes stand and he tucked her hand into the bend of his elbow as they made their way from the concourse hall to the west hall where the country legends were singing. The concert had already begun and as they entered the husband and wife launched into their poignant hit song ‘Over You’. Sam pulled Mercedes into his arms and led her into a gentle boxstep. 

They danced every dance, then when that set was over, they had fun dancing and clowning to a set done by former pop princess Brittany Spears. Their friends joined them as they laughed and danced the night away. The group enjoyed the wine and revelry until the hour grew uncomfortably late. But somehow neither Mercedes nor Sam were ready for the night to end. So rather than returning to their separate hotel rooms, the newly enlarged entourage made their way to The Original Café, a twenty four hour diner that had existed in LA since nineteen twenty four. Of the nine of them not a single person got the exact same thing. Santana and Puck both got steaks, Santana the T-Bone, and Puck the sirloin. Mercedes dithered between the Philly cheesesteak and the French toast with bacon. Ultimately she got the sandwich with the big cut steak fries and a side of bacon anyway. Sam went with the country fried steak. Kurt and Deja both went with breakfast, though their picks differed greatly. Deja had the steak and eggs, while Kurt went with a lighter option of a cheese omelet with a side of bacon. 

The portions were really big and the food delicious. As they demolished their plates of food, there was more conversation. Sam took the opportunity to tell Mercedes the rest of the story of his time in Lima; though he kept to the version that his family and closest friends knew. “Yeah, things got better once Dr. Herpich found out why I had to quit the choir and kept falling asleep in class. She got Mom a job as a substitute and Dad took over for a math teacher whose mother was dying and he needed to take the rest of the semester off. The next year she was able to hire Mom full time because one of the English teachers was pregnant and got put on full on bed rest before the end of the summer. The church gave Dad a whole bunch of freelance work to design the building for the new middle school and several new church buildings. We were able to rent a real apartment my senior year. Plus, since I was able to get a really good scholarship and go to school for football…I played college ball until junior year when messed up my shoulder and my knee and well here I am.” Sam smiled when she gently took his hand. “Now, you’ve managed to drag every bit of my life story out of me without sharing a touch of yours. Tell me about Mercedes Jones…the real person, not the singer/songwriter extraordinaire.”

Mercedes couldn’t help but throw back her head in laughter once again. Sam had thrown that last sentence out in a very passable Sean Connery impression. “Well, there isn’t all that much to tell. I’m the only daughter of two dentists, well technically a dentist and an oral surgeon, but still…two dentists. I have one older brother. I was born in Lima and lived there until I graduated high school.”

“Nope…I told you about my high school years and okay, technically, I’ve heard a little about yours from Puck…tell me what McKinley from your perspective.” Sam pressed.

“Well from my perspective, my time at McKinley started off as hell viewed through a slushie haze,” she chuckled at what seemed to be an inside joke that Sam wanted very badly to be privy to it. “But things did get somewhat better. Freshman year I was just a chubby black girl with too much boobs, too much butt…my lips were too big, my skin too dark, my voice too loud. It hadn’t mattered much in middle school or places like church, but suddenly we all hit high school and people I’d known my whole life suddenly became too cool to talk to me. Guys I’d gone to Sunday school with started throwing slushies in my face.” 

Anger rushed through him despite the time and space between those guy’s actions and their conversation, Sam took a deep centering breath. “I’m gonna need names of those guys. Addresses too if you have them…but, I mean, if you know first and last names I should be able to find out where they are now. Yo Puck…you, Slick and Trigger up for a road trip back to Lima…we got some mutherfuckers we need to educate on the hazards of bullying.” The centering breath hadn’t helped at all. He was still very pissed off at the thought of someone having done something so mean-spirited to someone he was very quickly growing to care deeply for.

Mercedes laid a calming hand on his arm. “Sam, you can’t fight my high school tormentors. They are, metaphorically, dead and buried. Besides, you’d have to start with those two reformed knuckleheads over there. They went from being two of my biggest tormentors to being two of my lifelong friends. Anyway. Like I said…it got better. After the creepiest show choir director in the history of the world got fired, I joined and made some really good friends. We made it Regionals my first year, then to nationals in my second. We lost both. I still blame our leadership for both of those losses, but it’s not a big deal. Hell, we lost nationals because our two duet leads kissed each other right on stage. Like that couldn’t have waited.” She shook her head at Finn and Rachel’s stupidity. “Anyway, I went into my senior year with major attitude. I was tired of always being in the background in the New Directions, I was resentful that Schuester had forced me to go to the Junior Prom by myself and perform when there wasn’t really a reason to make me go, someone else could have had an extra song. No one would have complained. Rachel would have been happy to get to sing twice. It was so embarrassing, but worse it really showed that he didn’t give a damn about me or my feelings. So I stopped giving a damn about him.” 

“I can understand that. Why extend yourself emotionally for someone who will never return the feeling?” Sam agreed. 

“I probably could have handled the blowup that happened better when it finally did, though. I’d been dating this guy, Shane, who was very competitive and he really supported my competitive side…maybe a little too much. I tried very hard to keep a handle on that part of me in high school. One day we were supposed to be practicing as an entire club. It was called booty camp and it was supposed to be to help our worse dancers. Well, not to be funny, but you just saw my performance, does it look like I need help to do a few pitiful show choir appropriate moves. But still I had to be there. Never mind that I had eaten something that was making me feel horribly sick, I went. Still Mr. Schuester decided not just to ride my ass for no damn reason;” Sam’s face infused with color as he thought of how much he would enjoy riding the round, firm mounds of her luscious ass. “He did it when his ‘golden’ girl didn’t even bother to attend. I was too through. I was done. I told him off and dipped to the muthafuckin’ left.” 

“You are really, just incredibly adorable when you cuss. I take it you don’t do it very often?” Sam smiled.   
Mercedes flushed under her chocolate brown skin. “I was raised in the church. I can use TV viewable swear words, because I was allowed to say those once I turned thirteen. The harder ones I only use when really, really pissed. I know it’s been years since high school, I should get over it but even now, just thinking about those two really pisses me off.”

“Rachel Berry, that’s who you meant?Puck has mentioned that she was in the glee club with him too. She is the single most annoying person I’ve ever met. I was minding my own business, eating dinner in Manhattan, I don’t even remember what restaurant I was at, and she up and sat her ass down at my table and not only introduced herself, but also tried to convince me that she would make the perfect girlfriend,” he told her quietly. “I tried to be polite. I was nice about it, just said that she wasn’t really my type…but she just wouldn’t leave me alone. Then, when I’m walking out of the joint and she tried to hijack kiss me. She had some paparazzi douchebag waiting to get a picture of us together. I moved so fast to avoid her that I tripped over the valet stand and fell and broke my freakin’ arm.” Sam confessed. That had been the last straw for his mother and she had guilted him into hiring Puck soon thereafter.   
Mercedes chuckled. “If it makes you feel any better, when she was in tenth grade one of our fellow New Directions, Kurt’s brother in fact, was trying to learn a dance number, hit her right in the schnooze and broke it.” 

“It might be wrong, but it does kind of make me feel better.” The country singer admitted with a wicked grin.

“Anyway. I really had the last laugh. Not long before I quit, a girl that Mr. Schue and Rachel refused to allow to join the New Directions got her rich father to create a new show choir, I joined it immediately, culled Santana and Brittany from the New Directions and we spanked both Rachel & Schue’s asses at sectionals. Most of the New Directions joined the Troubletones and we took Nationals under my leadership. Not only was Miss Gold Star not on the National championship show choir, but she had completely choked on her audition for the Broadway feeder performing arts school of her dreams. She stalked the admissions lady and eventually got in; totally stealing Kurt’s rightfully earned spot, by the way; but it was still epically hilarious that the stupid heifer choked on her signature song. Anyway, I came to UCLA and worked my ass off as a dual background singer and UCLA student all while writing songs for myself. I got picked up by Sony as a songwriter, but I parlayed that into a recording contract, released my first album…and well, here I am.”

“You are awesome.” Sam laughed. Sam’s mother had always told him that he had always had better hearing than anyone had a right to. It was that trait that allowed him to overhear Puck and Santana say that Mercedes never recognized want and desire aimed at her. With that thought in mind, he decided that the direct approach was the only way to go if he wanted Mercedes to view him as a possible romantic partner. A fact he already knew that he desperately wanted. “Okay, so I’m a heart on the sleeve kind of guy…so I’m just gonna say it. I want to see you again. Like just you and me on a real date.” 

Mercedes gave a shy smile trying to hide her delight. “Really, and when would this ‘real date’ take place?”

Sam sighed, “I don’t know. I’m only in LA for two more days, then its back to Nashville. I’m working on a song for the soundtrack to ‘Home and Away’ for Dreamworks.” 

“Well, we can try to connect later today,” she suggested. 

“Oh, we’re definitely going to connect later today, but I’ll probably be asleep until just before we meet…that won’t give me enough time to come up with a good date…a date a lady such as yourself deserves.” He was thoughtful. “I don’t leave until Wednesday morning. Why don’t we have our date Tuesday night?” he offered. He didn’t tell her that his flight was a scheduled to depart a little after midnight. Or that he’d actually have to push his flight back to the very last minute, he was scheduled to be at the studio by eleven Wednesday, but every fiber of his being told him that it was going to be totally worth it. 

“Okay, it’s a date,” Mercedes agreed. She immediately started trying to figure out what she would wear. She hadn’t gone a real date since before she got her record deal. 

“It’s a date.” Since his last impetuous choice to throw caution to the wind had worked out so well, he decided to do so again. He leaned across the small distance separating them. The first touch of his lips to hers was tentative; he gave her time to pull back. When she relaxed as if waiting for more, Sam left tentative at the door, deepening the kiss until he licked and sucked his way past the taste of the Coke she had had to drink, the French fries, bacon and Philly to the very essence of her, a flavor that he realized on a primal level was uniquely Mercedes. A moan slipped out and he wrapped her in his embrace deepening the kiss even more. The answering moan that came from Mercedes had Sam harder than he could ever remember being. 

Around the table, everyone was shocked and amazed. None of them had ever seen their friends like that. Santana and Puck were smirking. Kurt, Deja and Tank’s mouths were wide open in shock. The trio had never really seen Mercedes even display any attraction for any man. Slick and Trigger were somewhere between the two extremes. They’d seem Sam commit PDAs but they weren’t used to Sam being quite that open with his displays of affection. They had never seen him looking so enraptured with any woman. For a moment they worried about their boss turned friend. There could be a rather strenuous backlash from his fan base; both former cops hoped that he was ready for the storm.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 3

The Ritz Carlton Hotel  
Monday, February 10th, 2020   
Los Angeles, CA

Once they got back to their hotel room, Mercedes only let Santana, Kurt and Deja have five hours of sleep before she woke them back up. She allowed them to believe that it was an effort to make the hotel’s check out time, but the reality was that it was all just an elaborate ruse to drag them shopping. She felt slightly vindicated by the fact that they got an extra hour that her parents, in their excitement had denied her. “I haven’t been on a date in years, not one that wasn’t totally fabricated by my PR people and the guys. I have no clue what to wear.”

“You also have no idea what you two are doing or where you are going.” Santana responded grumpily. 

“So we’ll just have to try and plan for everything.” Mercedes ignored her friend’s snarkiness. “I mean it could be something as simple as dinner and a movie, or as complex as going to a club.” Few people would ever understand why she felt going to a club was complex, but her three closest friends knew the logistical nightmare that going to a club could often present for someone developing a music career.   
Kurt looked thoughtful. “Fine, but you will be putting yourself into our capable hands. Santana, Deja and I all have a lot more experience than you at dating…so you are going to agree that what we say goes.”   
Mercedes sighed. She hated the very thought of letting them have total control. “I want veto power.” 

“Fine, but you only get three vetoes for each category.” Deja told her quickly. At the affronted look on Mercedes’ face she continued, “Girl don’t act like you wouldn’t veto everything we pick out until you get exactly your way. You need to step outside the box in real clothes and not just in your performance gear.” 

“My performance gear is all hand crafted and it hides what it needs to hide and supports what it needs to support.” Mercedes reminded them. 

Kurt sighed. He’d been having this argument longer than the girls. Mercedes would probably always view herself as being huge when the truth was that she was only a little larger than the average American woman size wise. She had just been tricked into believing otherwise by those skinny bitches back in Lima. “Mercedes, you know that we won’t lead you wrong when it comes to your image. We want you to be happy. I haven’t seen you this happy since about three minutes before you threw that brick through my Baby’s windshield.”

Mercedes voice was quiet as she admitted; “I haven’t been this confident that the guy I actually liked really liked me back since then.” her friends looked at her agog. She rolled her eyes. “What? Puck was an arrangement. I should have kept that in the forefront of my mind the whole time. But he just kept showing my silly ass all these little peeks at the man he has since become. Shane…he wanted to be the man to bust the ‘unbustable’. Not sure if he ever realized that that shit was never gonna happen…I’ve never been so dry around a guy in my life. Hell, Kurt, you inspired more tingles than he did and I’m fairly certain that my body knew you were gay long before my heart and mind got the memo. Other than that who else was there? I had one horrible date with that other black guy you set me up with simply because he was a black guy. Matt was cool, but I almost guarantee that he was way more interested in Mike than he was me. My gaydar was not on the fritz with him at all. I had no time at all to even look at guys in college and since then everyone The Powers,” she used their inner group short hand for the upper deck of their people, “fix me up with had only wanted a quick, ‘we’re both so important’ date and a roll in the hay. Which they weren’t getting because I’m not having sex before I get married.” 

“You keep saying that, but it still makes no sense to me.” Santana said, frustration ringing in her voice and showing throughout her form. “You won’t even order stuff off the internet because you have to try it on. You test drove seven cars before you finally bought one. When you bought your condo, you had to sleep there first to make sure that it had a good vibe. How the hell are you going to tie yourself to some man for the rest of your life, and we all know you will never allow a divorce unless they do something completely unforgivable, if you don’t know if you’re sexually compatible?”

Mercedes bowed up, visibly getting angry. Her faith was very, very important to her and being a virgin until you got married was a major tenet thereof. “She isn’t saying you have to sleep with everybody you meet, but if you and Sam get to the point that you’re pretty much sure that he is the one, take him for a test drive or three. Make sure that he knows what he’s doing between the sheets. Nothing sours a marriage quicker or worse than bad sex.” Deja said soothingly. 

Thankfully for them all, they reached Mercedes’ condo then. She was in full commando mode, so everyone was showered, dressed and back out the door in just over an hour. They had lunch and then attacked the stores with a vengeance. Mercedes tried to keep them to smaller boutiques, places where they could shop without drawing attention, but the truth was that while women in America averaged a size fourteen to sixteen, women who boutique shopped in LA averaged a size zero to two. She found nothing that she was happy with and soon all four of them were feeling more than frustrated. On top of that Puck had texted them to see what they wanted to do for dinner since they were all supposed to hangout again. That gave them a more rigid time line. Kurt finally put his foot down and dragged them to Saks. 

Saks Fifth Avenue was always Kurt’s ‘I can’t find what I’m looking for, let me go there and find something I never even knew was missing from my life’ store. Mercedes had discovered that he had a valid observation, but she still preferred to try and find something more unique than what would be available in a chain store, even one as upscale as Saks. The quartet of shoppers all agreed that for an unknown date, she would be best suited over dressing slightly rather than underdressing even a little. So they headed to the dress section. Kurt, Santana and Deja were convinced that she wouldn’t be able to go wrong with a classic cocktail dress. However Mercedes vetoed their little black dress idea. They each picked three dresses for her to try on. Deja’s were each too matronly for Mercedes to really feel comfortable in on a real date type basis. The dresses would have been perfect for a ‘construct’ date, but they reminded Mercedes of some of the dresses Quinn and Rachel had favored in high school. Two of Kurt’s dresses were all beautifully cut and designed, but they were just too not her. The colors were too stark or too many of them. The last one was mirrored in one of Santana’s picks. Santana’s other two choices weren’t her favorites, though Mercedes actually liked both of them. However the dress that she and Kurt had both brought forward was perfection. 

It was a satin, Kay Unger, shawl collar dress that was a shade of navy that looked purple in some lights, blue black in others. It was sleeveless and stopped right above the top of Mercedes’ knees. The dress was structured with pleating at the waist to slim it and make the most of the hourglass figure it skimmed along. The neckline was enticing without being provocative. Though, unbeknownst to Mercedes, Santana, Kurt and Deja were all planning on upping the cleavage factor through the lingerie they picked to go under it. Shoe shopping came first, however, after trying on several different pairs offered by each of her friends; they finally went with a pair of four inch Nicholas Kirkwood suede cut out pumps in a more vibrant shade of blue that somehow brightened the navy of the dress. Lingerie was the hardest part. “It should not be this damn hard to find a demi cut, push up bra just because she has fucking huge H cup honkers.” Santana grumbled. “Kurt, you want to be rich and famous as hell, create fashionable, sexy lingerie for women with big natural tits. You would be the biggest gay man in women’s fashion since Lagerfeld.” 

Kurt rolled his eyes, but in the back of his mind he decided that it wasn’t such a bad idea. “If I ever do, I’ll name a line after you.” He assures her as they turn their attention back to the hunt. In the end they find exactly one long line bra that fit the bill. It was black and lacy and had strong satin covered boning separated by the sheerest, softest silk they had ever seen. The matching panties were barely enough fabric to be deserving of the name. When Deja found the matching garter belt all three of the co-conspirators did little dances of joy. Mercedes almost rebelled when she tried everything on, but unfortunately for her, there were no other options so she wasn’t allowed to veto anything. 

They finally left Saks with barely enough time to make it to the Montage Hotel where Sam was staying. The group was meeting there and deciding on the rest of the evening’s plans. Since Sam had pretty much adopted Puck, Slick and Trigger as his bros more than his guards, Mercedes didn’t bother to call Tank. She rarely utilized his services, which was perfect because he was rather in demand among the Hollywood starlets. Mercedes was the last to enter, following Puck as he conversed with Santana. Looking around the room, Mercedes was surprised at all the interactions she had missed the night before. Santana and Puck were clearly flirting their asses off, though it seemed to her that there was a weird undercurrent to their conversation. Deja and Trigger were bonding over somethings only LA natives ever really understood. And Slick and Kurt were throwing off pre-flirting vibes. Probably it would have been actual flirting, but Kurt didn’t seem to be trusting Slick’s gayness yet. Not that Mercedes could blame him. Deep down inside, she found that she was still having some trouble believing what she saw when she looked into Sam’s gorgeous green eyes. 

***

The Montage Hotel  
Monday, February 10th, 2020   
Beverly Hills, CA

Sam Evans knew he had it bad. It wasn’t the first time in his life he’d seen a girl and immediately felt like his heart was going to pound its way right out of his chest. It wasn’t the first time in his life that he’d felt like his world would end if he didn’t learn everything there was to know about a girl. It wasn’t even the first time in his life that he’d wanted a woman so badly his breath hitched in his chest and his dick sat like a rock in his pants. But it was the very first time in his entire twenty five year on the big blue marble they called earth that all three of those responses and a million more indefinable ones all happened in the exact same moment for the exact same woman. 

Puck had gone down and gotten the small group of friends from the lobby and brought them up to Sam’s suite. The other three men had individual rooms on another floor, but Sam’s Grand Deluxe suite had enough room for all eight of them to comfortably veg out until they made their decisions. When he walked back in with Mercedes, Sam’s breath had caught in his throat. She was dressed simply in a royal purple tunic, black leggings and ankle boots. Her hair was down around her face and the only makeup she had bothered with was lip gloss, a deep berry red lip gloss that was shiny as hell. All he could think as he tried to catch the breath that had been stolen from him was that he wanted; no…he needed; to kiss those lips.

“Mercedes.” He said happily as he crossed the living room to take her into his arms. Sam’s impulse control had never been the best, so when buffeted by the very persistent desire to kiss the lush woman in his arms, he didn’t manage to resist. The kiss was long, deep and slow and even when air and breathing became a desperate issue, neither of them really wanted to break the connection. Mercedes finally broke the kiss, only because she knew that if she didn’t things would go too far entirely too fast. As she stood there, still wrapped in his embrace, she broke the silence between them with a soft, “Hi.”

Sam smiled. “Hey Darlin’.” 

Puck cleared his throat. Both he and Santana agreed that this was a good thing but neither of them wanted the forming super couple to go too fast and risk ruining everything. “So what do we want to do for dinner? I say we should do something to get these two some nice innocent publicity tomorrow.”  
Kurt laughed. “If you spark any negative publicity for the delightful Ms. Jones, I will personally hand deliver you to her manager Toni…and she is at least six times as scary as Mr. Alfred,” 

“And by Mr. Alfred, he means Dr. Alfred Demetrious Jones, DDS.” Santana explained. “Proud papa of one Miss Mercedes, more Grammys than a little bit, Jones.”

Sam looked down at Mercedes, then realized that they were still standing pretty much in the door way. He led her over to the living room’s large wheat colored sofa. “So have you talked to your parents yet today?”

“Oh yeah, they totally forgot about the time difference. I can’t be mad though if they hadn’t woken me up at ass o’clock this morning we’d have totally missed our check out time!” She laughed. 

“I thought you told me that you live here, so why the hotel room?” Sam asked confused. 

Mercedes laughed. “My stylists and publicist made me. In their defense, the dress would have gotten wrinkled in the limo for too long and LA traffic is notorious for making every human being as late as possible for every big event in their lives.”

Sam nodded in understanding. He knew that the stars were expected to arrive in limos, even the brand new, didn’t have but one song, not even nominated folks did that, but he’d always assumed that only the ones who didn’t live in LA had come from hotels. “Okay, cool…now be honest, did your mom scream? Mine did. She and my little sister Stacey screamed so loud that it’s been hours and I’m just now really getting hearing back in my right ear.”

Mercedes laughter seemed to fill the entire fourteen hundred square foot suite. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear her all the way from Ohio, she and Daddy actually stayed up to watch the whole thing. Usually they are in bed by eight because their office opens at seven. But the best thing of all was Montravious, my older brother, he’s a hot shot surgeon in Philly now, apple of our Dad’s eye…he had been keeping it pretty quiet that I was his little sister. Personally, I think he’s just a little ashamed that I went into ‘the arts’ rather than any of the sciences…so I called him by name last night. He said that no less than ten people had already asked him if he could get them an autograph. Oh and my Daddy wants one of my Grammys to put up in their dental practice.” 

Sam looked around and made sure that the others weren’t close enough to hear his confession. “Let him have it. I don’t think you will ever regret it. I mean, I kind of … The envelopes with the winner’s name in them, you kept yours right?” She nodded with a big smile. “Good…I um…I kept mine that night, but my grandma she passed away not too long after, so I buried mine, the best new artist envelope, with her.” The smile that crossed Mercedes at the single sweetest thing she had ever heard made Sam’s heart pound in an erratic rhythm that skipped as many beats as it kept. 

“Sam, you…that…you can’t be real. I mean, I didn’t know that guys like you actually existed.” Mercedes breathed. 

Sam looked solemn. “I like to think I’m unique…but my dad and my granddad and my brother and most of my cousins are pretty much just like me.” Mercedes giggled good-naturedly.

“My Gram would have said that you Evans men must-a-been raised right. Momma would say that you guys must know how to pick good women.” Mercedes teased. 

Sam’s eyes grew darker as they slid up and down over her form. “Yeah, we’ve been blessed with the women we pick for our life partners for the most part. Except my cousin Earl, he’s been married so many times Elizabeth Taylor is in heaven worrying for her record. Yeah, and he has the nerve to fuss about gay people having the right to get married.” They shared a little chuckle at that hypocrisy. 

They talked for a while longer before Santana came over and interrupted. “I’m hungry and heading towards bored. What do you guys want to do about dinner? Puck, Trigger, Deja and I want to go somewhere fun; Slick and Kurt want to go somewhere elegant…but I think Slick is just saying that because he wants up on Kurt’s ass.” 

Sam chuckled. “Kurt is Slick’s type, tall and thin…fashionable and a little bit…effeminate isn’t the right word, but less manly man than he is.” 

Neither girl could argue with that assertion. Roger Wilson was at least three inches taller than Kurt and broad shouldered, muscular, knew several forms of martial arts and could probably have been a sharp shooter or sniper in another life. Mercedes looked over at the man she knew only as Slick. “Well, he does have that ‘it’s almost impossible to guess all the things that make up his genetic profile’ thing Kurt used to go for before he started serial dating.”

“True. And he’s big…I always thought the Fairy needed to get with a real man. I mean, if you’re a little gay dude, you need a big, brave gay to take care of you.” Santana chortled. 

“Is that what I sound like sometime?” Puck asked. Sam nodded and the retired Marine shook his head. 

“That is just plain offensive. He doesn’t necessarily need someone to take care of him. You wouldn’t like it if somebody said that shit about you. Besides, Hummel was scary as fuck in high school when he gave my ass the shovel speech. After we broke things off, I looked for his Navie every time I had to cross a street. The look in his eyes when he said that he was gonna run me over if I hurt you, Sexy Mama…it was that intense.” 

“So why didn’t he do it then?” Santana asked pointedly. 

Mercedes groaned. “Because I explained to him that it hadn’t really hurt me. Embarrassed me, but not anything more than that. Be happy I talked him down, if he’d gotten Puck, you were the next one he planned to get in his headlights.” She said honestly. “So why don’t we go somewhere fun. Santana and I used to love going to that Dave and Busters over on Hollywood and Highland. Kurt and Slick can commiserate about how pedestrian their friends are, and Sam and I can goof off and if someone takes a picture or something…one of you guys can photobomb us and decrease any likelihood of negative impact.” 

That was quickly agreed upon and they headed down to the large SUV Puck had rented and found that Mercedes Jeep Grand Cherokee was parked fairly close nearby. The restaurant wasn’t a super long drive away, but LA’s traffic was anything but predictable. So what should have been a twenty minute drive actually took closer to forty five. When the group realized that it was going to be a while before they got there. Santana called and she charmed the guy who answered the phone into allowing them to reserve an event room on short notice. Once we arrived, we were shown quickly into the room. Everyone was hungry, so it was an easy decision to eat first. 

Since they were there to have fun and Kurt and Slick agreed to be their designated drivers, the rest of their crew decided to start with drinks and appetizers. Sam got really perturbed when their waitress tried to start with him rather than taking the ladies orders first. “I’m sure that whoever trained you told you that you should always begin with any ladies that are present before turning to the men,” he said with a very disapproving tone to his voice. 

The waitress had the gall to respond by saying, “I’m sorry. I assumed that they were fans of some sort,” her tone left no doubt in their minds exactly what kind of fans she believed them to be. “So I didn’t think they were here to actually eat with you.” 

Puck looked as if he was going to either laugh or get very pissed off, very quickly. “Look chick, why don’t you go out there and get your manager. Tell him that your ass is going home immediately because you want to quit before he can fire you. Since you don’t seem to realize how many ways you just fucked up.” 

Kurt nodded and was happy to point out the era of her ways. “You ignored a Grammy winning artist because of the color of her skin. Which, as you know, is considered discrimination of the rankest order. Beyond that you just pissed off the guy you were trying to flirt with, another Grammy winning artist by painting those ladies with a brush more aptly applied to your skanky self. You’ve also pissed off three highly trained security professionals and a woman who has single handedly put more people into therapy than any other individual known to man. Now if we report this to your manager, let alone your corporate office, you’ll be fired, with cause. Or you can go ahead and follow Puck’s advice and leave quietly. Because to be honest with you, I’m far more likely to get you blackballed in every industry native to LA. You won’t be a successful model or actress or singer or whatever career you put after the slash…Waitress slash blah blah blah. Hell, you won’t even be a successful barista by the time I’m done making sure that everyone in this town know that hiring you will mean losing the business of every Mercedes Jones or Sam Evans fan…nationwide.” 

The waitress ran out of the intimate dining room fighting back her own angry tears. She tried to tell some lie about them having been rude but the manager had received complaints about her treatment of women in parties with attractive men before; she was relieved of duty and replaced by a young man who was both polite and efficient when he came in to take their orders. Determined not to allow the other chick to ruin their fun; Deja, Kurt, Mercedes and Santana ordered a pitcher of strawberry watermelon margaritas with four salt rimmed glasses. Sam decided that was a great idea so he got himself and his boys a bucket of Coronas. Since there were some many of them they asked for the waiter to bring them one order of each of the appetizers, with extra orders of both kinds of wings. The room was full of boisterous conversation as the two groups found common ground teasing Puck about the stories his high school friends generously shared. 

Soon they had their drinks and their first course and the room got even louder as they talked and laughed. Nicholai, their waiter, came back in replacing their empty margarita pitcher and bucketful of Corona bottles, taking away the upside down empties in the first bucket and took their dinner order. He started with Deja who was closest to him in that moment. She went with her preferred dinner pick, steak, while Kurt went with the fire grilled salmon. Santana however was never one not to get the most expensive thing on the menu. “I’ll have the Bistro Steak & Shrimp with Lobster Alfredo”. Then she smirked over at Puck and clearly told the waiter, “you can add my order to Puck’s…we’re together.”  
Mercedes hid her chuckle as she cosigned Santana’s order adding a crisp apple pecan side salad to her order. Sam, Puck, Slick and Trigger all went with one of the restaurant’s signature burgers. Puck had decided on the Portobello Swiss burger. Ever since he’d returned from his last tour of duty he was trying to be a better Jew in the little ways since he knew he wouldn’t make the bigs. In that effort he had sworn off eating bacon, even on his burgers. Sam, however, had no such religious constraints. He got the BLT burger, substituting the usual turkey with his preferred beef, and he asked for it with everything on it. Trigger’s burger of choice was the Maker’s Mark BBQ burger. It struck Sam as slightly weird that he had them put the pork on the side. Slick went with a very interesting order, two orders of the buffalo bar chick sliders though he asked that the second set of fries be brought out on a separate plate. “See its perfect; that way I get six sliders and the table gets a side of fries to share. Boom….universal happiness.”

They quickly realized that he was right. There was much talking and laughter as they continued to imbibe and consume. Mercedes smiled over at Sam. “So, confession: tomorrow will be my first actual-factual date in a really long time.”

“Me too.” Sam chuckled. “Though, I don’t usually have to worry about my PR agent or my management forcing me to go out on fake dates as much as I have to worry about my Mom setting me up on blind dates.”

“Oooh harsh.” Mercedes giggled. “Who was your last of each one of those? And who was your favorite ‘industry date?” 

Sam laughed. “My last blind date was this grown ass woman named Charlie Darling that my mom met when I sent her and Dad to St. Thomas for the weekend to celebrate their twenty fifth wedding anniversary. She called herself a photographer. I still cannot believe Momma did that though. Ms. Darling was closer to Momma’s age than mine. And Aggressive…I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m not into that whole ‘little woman’-‘Me Tarzan, you Jane’ type of chick, but Ms. Darling was way too much. She went in for a kiss and I felt like a cornered animal. I’m just not comfortable feeling like prey.” Sam’s eyes darkened to a deep mossy green as he thought for just a second of Mercedes putting him in a similar position. “Unless, of course, you’re feeling like channeling your inner Huntress.” 

“Are we talking lioness or DC super heroine with killer aim and even better boots?” Mercedes shot back hoping to direct attention away from the fact that she was fairly certain that the tone of his voice had just made her nipples hard enough to be seen despite her clothes. 

Sam was so speechless; he couldn’t even breathe for a long moment. He felt his entire word shift and his heart suffused with a warmth so strong it should have hurt, yet it only brought peace. “I literally just fell ass over teakettle in love with you.” He finally croaked out. “I am such a comic nerd. The fact that you know who the Huntress is…that’s just plain awesome.” 

Mercedes felt her cheeks infuse with heat as she fought to restrain her bright grin. “Thanks, but I’m not letting you not answer about your favorite and last industry dates.”

Sam mentally pulled back a little realizing that if he made her too skittish, she would bolt. So he allowed the subject resurrection. “The answer to both questions is actually the same person. I was a good little Sam-I-Am and I went on three of their stupid industry dates with chicks whose heads would have floated away if they weren’t firmly attached to their necks, so month before last I got to go out with Darcy Lewis.”

Mercedes looked confused for a second. “You do know that her real name is Kat Dennings, right?” She asked when the name clicked into place for her. 

“I do know that Darcy Lewis gave me LIFE” He returned with a big grin. “And Kat, she is just an honestly hilarious person. She just laughed at me for being stupid when I slipped. But come on she played a character that tazed a super hero…a Norse god for criminy’s sake. That’s just awesome. And the Marvel Cinematic Universe films are some of my favorite movies of all time. Even I was shocked when they dethroned Avatar.”

Mercedes laughed full heartedly. “Me too. But I have to admit I cannot wait on this next Avengers’ movie. I cannot believe they made us wait a whole year between each part of the Infinity War arc.”

“Oh…Kat said she would get me tickets to the premiere…want to go together?” he swooped in like a bird of prey hoping to capitalize on a shared interest to spend more time with her.

She shook her head. “I mean, I’d love to.” She corrected the impression that had made Sam’s smile wither on his lips. “But I’ve already checked, I’m in London the week of the New York and LA openings.”   
Sam pouted for a second. “Where are you going to be during the London and Paris openings?” 

“I don’t know, I mean, I’m on my European tour during the American openings, but I didn’t pay any attention to the European dates.” She answered honestly. 

“Well, I’ll check with her and see what the dates are and we can see what we can work out.” Sam smiled.   
He was a little surprised and quite honestly more than a little hurt when Mercedes started to laugh. 

Mercedes saw the look on his face and tried to pull herself together to answer the question she saw in his eyes. Eventually she was able to breathless murmur, “Sorry…sorry…but come on. I could have sworn you’d have been into the super skinny, Emma Roberts type…instead you’ve got a boob thing.” 

Sam groaned aloud. It would take sodium pentothal to get him to admit to Mercedes exactly how often he’d fantasized about Kat Denning’s very impressive cleavage, though his dreams last night had been filled with beautiful chocolate breasts. “I may have a thing for lovely large breasts. I think I read somewhere that comes from not being breast fed.” 

Mercedes smirked. “I thought men all wanted a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad?”  
Sam laughed. “I had assumed that song always alluded to her personality and skill set more than anything. I mean, if they just mean going on looks, that gets really gross real quick. I mean…I might be from the south, but I’m not from Mississippi, ya know.”

“You better chill with that. You know you have a lot of fans in Mississippi.” Mercedes chided. 

“Hey, I’m not saying they aren’t good people and wonderful fans. I’m just saying that if you have the lowest schools rankings in the entire US of A for the better part of the century than there must be a reason.” 

Thankfully Puck and Santana were ready to go play some games and have some real fun so they tabled the offensive remark discussion and defense for another time. Everybody got a fifty dollar game card to begin with. Then it was on. The range of games was expansive. There was something for everyone. Santana and Deja took on each other in Dance Dance Revolution. Kurt and Mercedes were dragged, kicking and screaming, into playing the Star Wars Trilogy game with Sam and Slick, while Puck and Trigger demolished all comers at the Madden Experience Football game. Over the course of the next four hours the group played games, talked to whoever was brave enough to talk with them, signed autographs and danced whenever one of Mercedes’ or Sam’s songs came on. They had so much fun; neither music artist could be bothered by the thought of what may or may not be videoed and sold to TMZ or whoever. They just had a well deserved good time. 

They left Dave and Buster’s when it closed having left their waiter a huge tip for going above and beyond the call of duty, even bringing them bottles of water to the game floor after they got parched during an epic trivia, everyman for themselves, battle during which Santana spanked like the rest of them owed her money. The whole group headed back to the Montage. Puck pulled Santana to the said to make sure that they had everything in readiness for their own good time the next night while Trigger and Slick said their goodnights and headed up leaving Sam and Mercedes to say goodnight in the garage; away from prying eyes. “I had a great time tonight.” Mercedes smiled.

“I’m real glad. So, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sam told her with a happy grin. “Do you want to meet here, or am I allowed to know where you live.” 

“You can know where I live, but if you have plans for us in LA or Beverly Hills, it will probably be best if I meet you here. You coming up and us coming back would probably end up making us late.” She told him honestly. 

Sam did not understand how on earth people could live with that kind of traffic all the time. But he did understand that he had been blessed with a wonderfully considerate date. “I’ll just have to plan ahead. I’m sorry, but I cannot ask a real date, especially one as beautiful as you, to drive herself…that goes against every southern gentleman code, it goes against the way my momma raised me…it just…no. That ain’t who I am. We have theatre tickets for eight. I thought we could go see If/Then…I did want to ask if you wanted to have dinner before or after the play?”

“Why don’t we have a small snack together before the show and then go for a later dinner? It can make the night last even longer,” she suggested shyly. 

“I’d like that.” Sam agreed. He leaned forward and kissed her goodnight. The kiss began slowly, just a simple meeting of two pairs of lush pillowy lips. As the moments passed, it deepened as passion flared hot and bright between the two of them. Sam abruptly pulled back, even as he knew it was the last thing he really wanted to do. “You’d better head home. We have our first official date tomorrow.” He reminded himself just as much as he was reminding her. “Text me and let me know you made it home safely.” He opened her door and helped her into the car. “Good night Darlin’, I’ll see you tomorrow round five.” He pressed her a quick kiss and closed the door. 

As soon at the wood was between them, both knew that they couldn’t wait for the next evening.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 4

The Montage Hotel  
Tuesday, February 11th, 2020   
Beverly Hills, CA

Sam Evans was pacing. He’d gotten the tickets. He had made reservations at Spago for after the play. He’d ordered flowers, gardenias, to pick up on his way out. The rental car company he used whenever he was in LA had delivered the car he’d requested, a nice, normal Cadillac XTS. Sam fully admitted that yes, he had a thing about American cars. He had everything handled. But there was something niggling at the back of his mind…Something that he had forgotten to do or order or prepare. He had a couple of hours before he needed to leave to make his way to Mercedes home in La Habra Heights and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. 

Puck came into the room to ask Sam if he wanted to go work out before he had to get dressed. The former New Direction watched for a minute with a smile on his face. “Man, calm your tits. Cedes is good people. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” 

Throwing himself onto the couch, Sam groaned. “I know that. I mean, I’m not worried about her, I’m worried about me. I thought I had everything planned. I mean I made reservations at Spago for the dinner. I went online and scoped out a cute little place to grab a bite before the play on the way back from her place. I have the tickets; they were delivered this morning so we don’t have to do the whole ‘Will Call’ song and dance. But I keep feeling like I’m forgetting something major.”

Nodding his head, Puck went through his own, ‘actual date’ mental list. Since it had been pretty much drilled into his head by Mercedes when they had dated in high school, he was fairly confident that he’d be able to figure out what Sam was missing. “What about a token…candy, flowers, something she can look at and think about you for a few days?”

“Gardenias from the florist downstairs. Gonna pick ‘em up on my way to the car.” Sam told him. “Her voice is perfection, so I went for the Billie Holiday flower of choice.”

“Oooh, good one…figure out how to slip that into the conversation. You got gum or mints for after your snack and after dinner right? Cash for the valet and theatre attendants?” Puck laughed. “You’ve still got time before you need to shower and get dressed. What are you gonna wear?” 

Sam’s eyed widened as he made a horrific realization. “I don’t know. I didn’t bring anything date able with me unless you count my tux, which I totally don’t.” 

“Shit.” Puck scrambled up from the arm chair he’d slung himself across to watch Sam’s frantic pacing. “Crap. Cedes is big on fashion. She’s gonn be checkin’ you for your swagger. She isn’t gonna go out with you again if she thinks you’re some busta who can’t dress himself.” 

“I can’t dress myself,” Sam damn near squeaked, a sinking feeling in his gut. “Did you forget that small fact? My Mom, Stacey and my stylist, Pamela, dress me.” Sam groaned. “My idea of high fashion is a graphic tee calling for a national weed holiday on April twentieth.”

Puck started to pace. “Shit…if it were me I’d call Kurt, since we’re in the same city and all. But he’s gonna be busy with Cedes by this point.” Biting his lip, the man thought hard, his face brightening when inspiration struck. “Wait…Slick. He’s all gay and shit maybe he can help.” 

“Yeah, but I gave y’all the day off remember.” Sam bemoaned. He’d told them to chill out, see the sights, and they would meet up before they needed to head to the airport. 

“He went somewhere this morning, but now he’s just in his room texting back and forth with Hummel. He’ll come through for you man.” Puck dipped and came back as promised with Sam’s other body guard, and the last member of their party as well. 

Slick entered the room talking on his cell phone. “Look, I know your appointments are booked months in advance, but remember when I caught you sucking dicks in that park in Irvine? Remember how I didn’t bust your ass? You owe me.” he nodded. “Alright see you then. We’ve got twenty minutes to get to get to Dior Homme. One of my contacts is gonna hook us up with an appointment.” 

Sam was so happy and excited; they managed to make it across Beverly Hills in fifteen. Slick introduced them to his friend Jean Paul, a small really pretty looking man. An hour later, Sam was tricked out for his date. They rushed back to the hotel, where Sam showered, shaved and spritzed himself in a small amount of his favorite cologne, Tom Ford’s Oud Wood. He pulled on a pair of navy blue boxer briefs, matching socks and a glaring white wife beater, then shrugged on the whiter than white dress shirt and stepped into the pants. The Dior Homme trousers were double pocket cotton slacks with knife edge creases. The marine blue skimmed the line between teal and blue and made Sam’s eyes even greener. He slipped his wallet, two simple white handkerchiefs and a pack of 5 RPM gum into his pockets. He moved from the bedroom of the suite into the living room and Slick tucked a blue, green and white handkerchief into the pocket of his dress shirt. He slid his feet into the same black shoes he’d worn to the Grammys. The black, tie up dress shoes that Sam had broken in and he knew he’d be comfortable in for the entire evening were still shined from the night before. 

Since the needed suit detour had taken some of the time Sam had for picking up the flowers and such, Trigger had run those errands for him and Slick had gone to grab Sam some cash just for incidentals. Working together they had Sam on the road only ten minutes behind his ideal intended departure time. The traffic gods were on his side, though, the trip took only an hour rather than the hour and a half it would usually take that time of day. Sam pulled into the driveway of the complex and typed in the number Mercedes had texted him that would get him past the gate. He made his way through the sprawling rows of townhouses until he found the right street and house number and pulled in to the drive in front of the appropriate garage. Sam quickly stood and donned the suit coat that matched the pants exactly before reaching back into the car to grab the bouquet of gardenias. Sam checked himself over and made his way to Mercedes’ front door. He waited patiently the five to twenty eternities between when he rang the doorbell and when the door opened. As soon as the door opened to reveal Mercedes to his hungry gaze, Sam’s jaw hit the welcome mat and he knew that he should probably check his chin for drool. 

 

Mercedes Jones Residence   
Tuesday, February 11th, 2020   
La Habra Heights, CA

A thrill of feminine pride shot through Mercedes as she saw Sam’s reaction to her appearance. However it was quickly displaced by her own look of shock and awe as she took in his. His marine blue suit made his eyes pop and his sandy brown hair look both brighter and richer somehow. The bright white of his dress shirt made his skin glow as if it were golden velvet rather than just plain skin. Still despite the gorgeous sight before her; she could still feel his eyes, almost tangibly, as they followed every curve and dip of the satin covering her body. Under the weight of his gaze, she felt beautiful. She felt sexy. She felt a surge of the same satisfaction that overcame her whenever she performed, only the feeling was far more visceral. “God, you look amazing.” Sam’s voice broke through the haze of their mutual admiration society. 

“Thank you…you’re looking really, really good yourself.” She grinned. 

“I…I got you these.” Sam passed her the gardenias and followed her into the townhouse while she found a gorgeous, vintage Mikasa crystal vase in which to put them.

“They are lovely.” She smiled. “I love gardenias. They always make me think of Billie Holiday.” 

Sam blushed. “Me too, and since your voice is just as amazing as hers was…”

Mercedes laughter was a little loud but filled with joy. “Boy stop…Lady Day was a class all her own.” 

But despite her humble words, Sam could tell that she really enjoyed the compliment. He let the self-deprecation go and instead gave her a small, encouraging smile. “So, are you ready to go? I made reservations for us at Hikari. I hope that you like sushi.” 

“I love it.” She bit down on the giggle trying to escape her. “Have you ever been to Hikari? I love that place. The 911 roll is pretty much to die for.” 

“I hope not to die for…I have plans for you.” Sam smirked, his eyes following her every move as Mercedes walked back through her well-appointed living room to the hall closet. 

“Let me get my jacket and we can go.” She looked back over her shoulder to see that Sam hadn’t moved. His eyes were fastened on her ass. “Hey, Sam…reservations…plans…any of that sounding familiar?” She teased. 

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, but it is so not my fault that I cannot even move right this moment. You in that dress and those heels…” he murmured before his mind caught up with his mouth. “Umm…sorry. I know I shouldn’t be all…” he waved his hands in the air in a roughly perfect pantomime of her impressive curves. “Okay…I’m lyin’. I know I’m supposed to be all enlightened and a gentleman, but Darlin’ you look so good I want to forget sushi, forget the theatre, forget Spago. I wanna just stay here eat you, watch you do your thing, and then eat you again.” He said honestly. 

Mercedes shivered as the flame in his eyes burned across every nerve in her body. She sighed. “Sam, maybe we should talk about that.” 

“Ummm yeah, talking is good.” He whispered as he finally forced his feet to work. 

Mercedes returned the jacket to the closet. Probably after what she had to tell him, she wouldn’t need it. She led him to the wheat colored suede sofa that sat perfectly placed under the room’s bay window. As they settled among the plethora of accent pillows in a myriad of shades of green and purple, Sam wondered for a second if he’d finally gone too far with the honesty. Internally, Mercedes girded her loins and forced the words past the ball of fear in her throat. She was used to encountering two reactions to her disclosure…challenge and disdain. “I’m not…Sam…I’m still a virgin.” She took a deep breath and let out the rest. “And I fully intend to stay that way until I’m married.”

Sam gulped down in surprise. “My mother is going to love you.” He breathed. He’d been trying to say something calm, cool and collected instead of saying something stupid like ‘whoa’ or ‘wow’. That hasn’t been what he had meant to say but it slipped out. Mercedes was looking at him like he’d grown a second head, but Sam was too deep in his not quite inner monologue to notice. “I mean, like I’m already half way in love with you myself…but waiting for marriage. I didn’t believe that women like you still existed. I mean…that is so cool. Like…is it a deal breaker that I’m not though?”

She shook her head. “It will be a deal breaker if you try to find nookie elsewhere while we’re dating. It will be a deal breaker if you try to force me to give you my cookie before I’m ready…”

“I totally get that. Ummm…is there anything we can do? You’re okay with like kissing and stuff?” he asked worried that he’d already blown everything. 

Mercedes nodded. “Kissing and making out is fine. I’ve never really progressed beyond like second base; or whatever you’d call some mild over the clothes groping. Usually the guys I’ve dated hear what I just said to you and head for the hills.”

Sam looked confused for a long moment. “Are the guys you dated all secretly gay and trying to hide it by boning as many women as humanly possible? Or just monumentally stupid or something.” His eyes looked her over again. “You’re beautiful, talented, funny and cool…that is totally worth waiting for.” At the look of pure disbelieving relief on her face Sam smiled. “Hey. I’m serious. I really, really like you. I don’t know if it is because I was raised catholic or what but I cherish the fact that if you eventually pick me to be the man you marry, I will have the blessing and honor of having a part of you that you can give only once. And let me tell you, just know that already makes me want to become worthy and always be worthy of such a gift.” 

The chocolate diva sat still for a minute. Of everything she was expecting, she hadn’t even though that Sam’s reaction was a possibility. “Okay. Thanks. I mean, Yeah…we should…we should get going so that we have time to hit Hikari.” She babbled happily. 

As she stood to go grab her jacket, Sam reached out and took her hand. “Hey, I don’t know what kind of jackasses you’ve been dealin’ with Darlin’…but I’m not them. If I move too fast or look like I’m goin’ too far, you pull me up and I’ll put the brakes on…Okay?” 

“Okay. Thanks Sam…now really we should head out if we’re going to stop.” 

Sam nodded. “You’re right…but you have to order for me when we get there. I’m a country boy. I’ve only had sushi a hand full of times.” He helped her into her jacket, a skirted, light, lavender, lambs’ wool trench that stopped half way down her thighs and led her to his car, taking a minute to make sure her door was locked. “Have I said how lovely you look tonight?” 

Mercedes nodded as he opened her door for her. They made small talk as he followed the GPS directions to the restaurant. Sam made sure that he opened all the doors and treated her like a lady. They were seated quickly, the hostess acted a little star struck until Mercedes remembered her by name from her many previous visits. “So Mr. Evans…tell me something humiliating about you. I overshared…now it’s your turn.” Mercedes prodded as soon as their waiter left with their orders. 

“I’ll tell you something humiliating about me…but you didn’t share anything humiliating. You just told me something about yourself that gave me some deep insight into who you are as a person.” Sam said earnestly. “So if I tell you something humiliating, you have to do the same thing.” 

Mercedes nodded, gesturing for him to continue. “If it’s really, really good…then I guess I can come up with something.”

Sam smiled. “Oh its good…horribly embarrassing, but hilarious.” he told her. “Well it is now. It so wasn’t even close to being funny when it happened. When things were at their worst in high school…neither Mom nor Dad were working, almost their entire unemployment checks went just o keeping us in that crappy hotel room, and we were hiding how bad thing were from everyone we knew…or trying to at least…I used a fake ID and got a job at that place Stallionz on Route 65. The money was good…I mean it was really good money. The ladies weren’t too sketchy, and there were lots of rules that kept them from touching us. Plus since I was under twenty five, I didn’t have to work the men’s nights. Not that there is anything wrong with being gay…that doesn’t bother me…but supposedly the guys who hit Stallionz on men’s night were crazy. Anyway…one night, I’m working the stage and when I get down; they send me in to do a private party. We got those all the time, bachelorette parties, even a couple of baby showers. So I change into my ‘Rocky’ costume…Rocky Horror seems to be a big draw for the bridal groups…and head in to do my thing. I got down to the damn gold g-string that barely contained my junk…not that I was in much to start with… when I realized it was a bachelorette party for my little sister, Stacey’s, teacher. I walked Stacey to her classroom like every other day…she recognized me immediately. She didn’t say anything, but she caught up with me after…when I was in regular clothes and dragged the whole thing from me. She is the one who went to the principals, both at the elementary and high schools and got my mom and dad into substitute teaching…which is what got us out of the motel and into an actual apartment. Please don’t think I lied to you last night…well I mean I did, but I can’t tell everyone the real way we got outted as being poorer than church mice. It is just too humiliating, and really kind of illegal. But anyway, thankfully I still was working at Falcones, so I quit Stallionz and just worked at the pizza joint.”

“Wow,” Mercedes breathed. “I totally understand why you created the other story. Thank you for telling me the truth. But I have to say you shouldn’t be ashamed. That is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Don’t get me wrong…I can imagine how mortifying it must have been to see anyone you knew there like that…but your little sister’s teacher…that oh boy…the look that was probably on your face.” She started laughing. 

Sam chuckled too. “I don’t know who was more mortified when we recognized each other…me or her. She and her friends were damn good tippers though. So one good humiliation deserves another…what was your horribly embarrassing moment?”

Mercedes took a sip of the wonderful dry rosé she’d ordered to go with her salmon roll. It tasted of watermelon, cherry, and raspberry, rounded with roses and spiked with lime. It was one of her favorite pairings for sushi. “I guess…I’ve not got any as embarrassing as that. I mean, the closest I can come to that level of horrifying public embarrassment was way back in the day when I was dating Puck for that hot second our sophomore year of high school. I was on the Cheerios…our school’s cheerleading squad. The coach had put Kurt and me on to lend our vocals to her already stellar gymnastics and dance routines. Of course…she wanted me to lose weight. Now don’t get me wrong…I was pretty much mainlining tater tots by that point in high school, so yeah I could have stood to drop a few pounds, but the things she had me doing were in no way, shape, form or fashion healthy. So over the course of the week she was making me drink her Sue shit…not what she called it….but basically it was a horrible amalgamation of different energy and protein shakes combines with some kale juice and some other not at all good tasting vegetable juices. It was all I was ‘eating’ for almost a week. Suffice it to say I passed out and damn near died chasing someone else’s idea of what my God meant for me to look like. But I learned my lesson.”

Sam smiled and gently took her hand. “I’m so glad that you learned from that. Because you are gorgeous just the way you are. Not trying to sound all horndoggish, but you wouldn’t be half as sexy and beautiful and perfect as you are if you didn’t look exactly like you do.” 

Their waiter appeared with their pre theatre snack. For Sam, Mercedes had ordered the restaurant’s seminal 911 roll; a slightly spicy sushi roll with which Sam immediately fell in love. Mercedes, herself, had the salmon avocado roll. Given the drive and the need to be on time for the opening curtain, Sam and Mercedes talked over their snack, but didn’t dawdle. The hour long ride to the theater gave them plenty of time for conversation. “So, Ms. Jones…I have to ask…just curiosity, what are your limits…hard and fast…no going beyond that point…full stop limits on physical interactions with someone of the alternate gender? What does second base mean to you?” Mercedes sighed. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to answer that question. Sam took her hesitation as her not really having an answer. Not having had the experience enough to really know what she was willing to do or not do. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re a virgin. If you don’t know you don’t know.”

With a little laugh Mercedes laughed. “Sam, I’m a virgin…not a nun. I know what second base means to me. To me it means that we keep our pants and underwear on at all times, shirts are negotiable and bra…well that will depend.”

“Depend on what?” he asked his voice thick, even the idea of seeing her in only her bra and a pair of skinny jeans…it was definitely something he wouldn’t miss for the world.

Mercedes felt heat infuse her face. “I guess it depends on how much you get my motor running before we have to stop.” She smirked. 

“How will I know that gets your motor running, Darlin’? Any tips or do I just need to learn as I go?” Sam asked leadingly. 

“Like I said Sam, I’m a virgin…not a nun. I know what kinds of things get me hot. I fantasize. I masturbate. I just don’t fuck.” She said bluntly.

Sam gulped as he swallowed his first sentiment, which was to say how hot he thought it was that she masturbated and asking what she fantasized about. Instead he said soothingly. “Didn’t mean to piss you off, Mercedes, I just wanted to know our limits.”

“Our limits?” she asked quietly.

“Well, yea, s’long as we are dating…your limits are my limits.” Sam said earnestly. He chuckled a little at how cheesy it sounded despite knowing that he meant every word. “Anyway, I have to say I’m glad to hear that masturbation is allowed. Though I guess for the sake of honesty, I have to admit that it’s not just relief that makes me say that.”

Mercedes gave him a sidelong look. “Oh really, so why else are you glad to hear that masturbation is allowed?” Her look was slightly judgy but the smile playing at her lips and the tone of her voice conveyed another message entirely. 

Sam threw her a quick smile. “Because the thought of you masturbating…is gonna be fuel for my masturbatory fantasies for at least the next week or two.” he locked his eyes on the road navigating the LA streets with verve. “So…ummm…if I asked you what you fantasize about…just you know, purely for determining out lifelong compatibility…research if you will…would you tell me?”

Mercedes found that she was completely unable to not laugh at Sam’s rambled query. “Maybe on a second or third date, but that is a bit much for our first real date. What kind of girl do you think I am?” she rebutted teasingly. 

“A damn near perfect one.” Sam mumbled inaudibly. But he didn’t want to scare her off so he decided that discretion was the better part of valor. “You are a very nice girl, one I just happen to want to know everything about. But since we’re almost to the Pantages, we can table that discussion until after the show. What do you think Puck and Santana are doing on their date?”

“Hopefully staying off my couch.” Mercedes answered, allowing the subject change. “I think Santana said that they were going to go catch a movie then head back to the house to catch up. Were Slick and Kurt meeting up to…do you know?”

Sam shrugged as he pulled into the Pantages theatre’s valet parking stand. “I have no idea. They were texting like crazy earlier.” 

Sam led Mercedes into the theatre, both of them so wrapped up in chatting that they didn’t pay any attention to the few paparazzi milling around out front hoping to catch some Hollywood big wig having a night on the town. “I think Kurt really does like him.” Mercedes said with a secretive smile. “But it is hard to tell…that boy may expect us to tell him everything going on in our love lives, but he likes to keep his cards close to his chest when it comes to his.”

They were led to their seats by a solicitous usher. Sam was pleased to see that they were in the middle of the theatre, close enough to the stage to feel like they were in great seat, but far enough back that they would easily be able to see the entire set, not just the center most portion. They chatted more about their friends until the curtain was raised. At intermission, they withdrew to attend to their physical needs and reconvened, however, their new conversation centered on the play. “I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I kind of thought the music would be better.” Sam whispered. In the play newly divorced 38-year-old Elizabeth, an urban planner, moved to New York City for a fresh start. She met her friends Kate, a kindergarten teacher, and Lucas, a community organizer, in Madison Square Park. Kate suggested that Elizabeth start using the name "Liz" and seek out new experiences. In complete opposition, Lucas suggested that she go back to her college nickname, "Beth," and start making professional connections in the city. The first act shows what would transpire if Elizabeth chose to become "Liz" and stayed in the park with Kate. 

“I know. Maybe there will be some more memorable numbers in the second act.” Mercedes agreed.   
In the second act, Sam and Mercedes watched what Elizabeth’s life would have become if she chose to transition into "Beth" and head off with Lucas. At the end of the play, Mercedes turned to Sam and murmured, “Wonder what would have happened if she stayed Elizabeth and made her own damn life choices.”

Sam shrugged as he helped her to her feet. “Don’t know…but I know that Beth’s life was at least less depressing than Liz’s.” 

Mercedes shook her head. “Nope. See what they don’t show you was that Beth still married Josh, they still had the two little boys…but then he got shot coming out of a coffee shop…because that was how her life was meant to be no matter what name she went by.”

“Whoa…you just took a trip on the dark side of life.” Sam teased. “Actually it’s nice to know that you can go there.” The rest of their wait on Sam’s rental was spent coming up with increasingly weird nicknames Elizabeth could have chosen to go by and what dire fate awaited her at the end of each. Sam tipped the valet heavily. No star wanted to be known as a bad tipper, but for Sam it was even more important to tip well. He still had nightmares about his family’s financial struggles, and while the economy had gotten better, especially after President Sanders raised the national minimum wage to twenty dollars an hour, Sam still didn’t like to think of what service workers lives were like if they weren’t tipped well. 

During the drive to Spago, they told each other about their families. Sam’s grandmother who’d passed away two years before had been the last of his grandparents to shuffle off the mortal coil. But Mercedes had both of her mother’s parents left, though she had lost her father’s mother before she was old enough to remember her. Sam was the oldest of his parent’s three children and Mercedes the youngest of two. While Mercedes had a total of twelve aunts and uncles, and more cousins than she could quickly name, Sam had only one unmarried uncle on his mother’s side and one widowed aunt who had a daughter younger than Stevie and Stacey, on his father’s. Sam told her about the fact that he was still, even as a grown man embarrassingly incapable of sleeping in a fully dark room, especially if the closet door was open. Mercedes confided that she went the other way; she liked keeping a little light in her bedroom at night for when she needed to get up and hit the head or some other nocturnal wanderings, but always slept with sleep mask because she felt better if she could pretend the room was darker than the farthest reaches of space. 

They made it to Spago perfectly on time for their post theatre reservations. Outside the iconic LA hotspot, the paparazzi was not only more numerous, but more vociferous. The newly dating couple ignored them for the most part, choosing instead to continue their discussion. Sam talked about how growing up, he’d spent vast amounts of time with his father’s parents. “Momma was a college junior when she had me. Neither of their parents were gonna let them put me up for adoption and my Momma might be politically pro-choice but she is damn sure personally pro-life. So once I was born, my grandparents took care of me while they finished school. PawPaw and MawMaw, my Dad’s parents had me through the week since MawMaw didn’t have an away from the house job. And Grampa and MeeMaw had me on weekends. I think PawPaw had me up on a horse before I could even walk.” 

So you didn’t have to try and learn to ride a horse just for your ‘He Rides the Wild Horses’ video? No wonder you looked so comfortable up there on that palomino. You didn’t learn to ride a day or so before hand, you’ve always known.” Mercedes giggled a little as she realized that she’d just said a lot in those few sentences. Rather than allow Sam time to realize that she’d watched his videos enough times to assess his on horse comfort level, she continued speaking and changed the subject. “That does set you apart from the rest of the flock. I have to say I’m really glad for the resurgence of women in country music. I was getting a little tired of the kind of misogynistic lyrics that were so prevalent around the time that I graduated high school.” 

Sam wanted to stand up for his mentors, but Mercedes had something of a point. “That was true for the casual listener, people who just listened to country radio sometimes or watched CMT occasionally. Luke, and Dierks and Brantly, they all had some really great, deep lyrics. But those songs weren’t single…they didn’t get videos made or played. They didn’t get radio play. So since you aren’t the type to buy their albums…you missed out on some great music.” 

“Why did Blake Shelton’s more emotional tracks make it through?” She asked truly curious. “I mean, I can think of five of the top of my head that were getting radio play my senior year of high school.” 

“Because Blake was and is Blake. He is sweet and nice and a true good hearted good old boy if he likes you and yet he is also someone no one wants to cross. He learned early in his career how to make sure that the upper mucky mucks think that his ideas are really their ideas. So he’s gonna get his way. Besides, the last thing anyone wanted to do was make him sic Miranda on them. She’s feisty.” Sam laughed.

Mercedes laughed. It was a well-known fact throughout the music industry that Miranda Lambert was feisty, fierce and definitely understood the concept that you could catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but was never one to step back from wielding the sledgehammer when one was needed to move obstacles from her path. “BlaRanda and Reba McEntire are the only three I have left on my country, ‘I’ve gotta meet them’ list. I met Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw in Vegas and Trisha and Faith were with them. That was one of the best nights in like history.” She said honestly.

“Was that the ACM’s last year? That night was fucking epic. I met like every one of my heroes that night…even George Strait.” Sam crowed. Their conversation was interrupted as their waiter arrived to take their orders. 

Thankfully this waiter was as efficient as their second one had been the night before at Dave and Busters…and almost as calm and unaffected. Mercedes ordered first electing to begin their meal with the roasted quince and mozzarella “burrata” salad, topped with prosciutto di parma, and drizzled with aged balsamic. Sam, however, was never much of a vegetable eater. He went with a bowl of lobster bisque soup enriched with sea beans, trumpet mushrooms and young onions. Sam took care of ordering the accompanying wines; Mercedes a glass of a French Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc, and himself a glass of a nice dry Amontillado. “So…” Sam drawled as the waiter left the table with their first course order in hand. “Miss Grammy award winning artist, what is your reward?” 

“What do you mean?” She asked, her voice just a little too innocent.

Sam smirked. “Well, the first time I won, I bought myself a first edition, autographed, September 1963, number 1 X-Men, comic book. This year I think I’m going for the number 1 Avengers.” He admitted hoping that she wouldn’t think him too dorky. 

“My brother would seduce you just to get a chance to look at those…granted then he would kill you in your sleep to steal them.” She whispered. 

“Wait, I thought you said that your brother was seeing a nephrologist, whatever that is, named Melissa?” 

“He is. Totally and completely straight. Never had a single homoerotic thought, but he is the world’s biggest comic book nerd. He would completely go gay for a chance to get near just one of those books let alone both.” Mercedes answered honestly. 

Sam just nodded. He could actually understand that. Pierre appeared with their first course and once he had left again, Sam forced Mercedes’ attention back to his original question. “So…what is your reward going to be?” 

The chocolate diva rolled her eyes. “I have no idea.” she told him honestly. “Santana thinks that I should buy myself a real house. But I’m just one person, so, right now, the town house is perfect for me…besides I paid cash for that house…not a bit of debt after the first year, and I only stretched it out that long to undo the damage getting behind on my student loans while I was hustling to get my music noticed for real had done to my credit rating.” 

“Well, what is something that you’ve always wanted…something that you love but never had had a good enough reason to buy?” Sam asked. 

The secretive little smile that painted itself across Mercedes’ full, thick, lush lips made Sam’s pants feel uncomfortably tight, not for the first time that evening. “When I was in high school, I developed a true addiction to animal print. The wilder and louder the better. Kurt absolutely hated it. He swore up and down no true fashionista would be caught dead in it. But then when we were playing day dream we found a gorgeous pair of knee high Louboutin five inch stiletto boots. I wanted them more than I wanted my next meal…but at the time they were almost seventeen hundred bucks. Now they are vintage and a pair in prime condition can cost close to ten grand.” Her voice took on a dreamy quality and Sam knew that she was deep inside her own head space as she continued. “But some time, I still have a dream where I’m that seventeen year old me standing over that smexy pizza delivery boy wearing those boots, black stockings and lace garters and nothing else but a matching leopard print corset dress…they kind with a flirty little tulle skirt.” 

Sam grabbed his water glass and drained it. He needed something a lot stronger to keep him from grabbing the gorgeous woman in front of him and showing her exactly what her fantasy about their younger selves did to him. But he knew that that was exactly the wrong way to go. “Maybe one day we can make that dream come true.” He said quietly. “Well…there you go. You just won seven Grammys. Hell, Puck is getting a Ducati and he didn’t do anything but have massive amounts of well-deserved faith in his friend. So you can search out and find you a pair of your dream boots.” Sam nudged verbally.

Mercedes nodded as she came back into herself. “You know what…you are exactly right. I might even get the whole outfit.” 

Sam swallowed hard. “Okay. I cannot not say this. Please don’t like throw your wine in my face and storm out…or freak out or whatever. But if we make it to the whole ‘til death do us part’, ‘man and wife’ stage all I want for my wedding gift from you is that we make that fantasy of yours come true on our wedding night.” 

It was Mercedes turn to grab and gulp a beverage; however she went for the latter half of her glass of wine. She was saved from having to answer that entreaty by the return of Pierre and a bus boy to clear the first course dishes and take their order for the second. For the second course, Mercedes chose to have Spago’s Dungeness crab risotto, with millet, quinoa, pressed oats, sunflower seeds, and chives. Sam’s pick was the restaurants delicious cacao pasta maltagliatti, with braised oxtail and pecorino romano. Since Sam had shown his wine pairing skills, hard won as they were, during the first course, Mercedes demanded the opportunity to pick their choice for the second course. She ordered Sam a glass of Querceto di Castellina, a Tuscany merlot that smelled faintly of sandalwood and was flavored with rich raspberry, black cherry, baked earth and tobacco undertones and for herself she elected to have a glass of her favorite Grüner Veltliner, Tegernseerhof, with its underlying hints of white peach, lime juice and pear. The risotto melted on her tongue and the wine was its perfect mate. Almost like Sam seemed to be for her. Mercedes almost choked on her food as the thought pervaded through her consciousness. It was entirely too soon to be thinking like that. She scolded herself. 

“So Sam, since I completely overshared there…you need to repay the embarrassment…what is your go to fantasy?” She asked trying to channel her inner Santana. 

Sam turned beet red, but he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, let alone one that he could see getting him closer to his goal…to have Mercedes Jones become Mercedes Jones-Evans by the time the next Grammys rolled around. He knew it was early, and he wasn’t going to share the goal with her yet. His Momma hadn’t raised any fools. “You mean other than the leopard print garbed goddess standing over me allowing me to worship her…” he smiled. “Well…I guess I have to tell you that my dream last night…if amended to take care of your need to maintain your honor until marriage is definitely gonna be my other new favorite. In the fantasy…well I would stay completely dressed and you’d keep on a skirt or dress or something…as I knelt between those pretty brown thighs of yours and licked and sucked and teased and fingered, what I am sure has gotta be the sweetest pussy I’ll ever have the pleasure of tasting, until you come apart in my arms screamin’ my name to the heavens, Darlin’.”

Mercedes water goblet and wine glass were both emptied before she could fully form even a partial sentence. “Oh. Oh my. Ummm. Okay…think that one back fired on me. As many of those Evanovich novels as I’ve read…I never understood how a man could cause panty ruination with just a few words…but I get it, I totally get it now. Wow. If you liked my little daydream half as much as I liked that…” she took a deep shuttering breath. “Okay in the interest of self-preservation it is now time for a complete and total subject change. Tell me more about the song you’re doing for the soundtrack?” 

So they talked shop as they finished the second course and placed their order for the seared diver scallops on a bed of pad Thai noodles with red Thai curry sauce, holy basil, peanuts, and kaffir lime leaves, grilled prime New York steak, glazed baby carrots, radishes dressed with sauce bordelaise, and the accompanying glasses of Dom. Laporte, Sancerre Le Rochoy sauvignon blanc and Domaine Bois de Boursan châteauneuf-du-pape respectively. By the time the food and wine arrived, Sam and Mercedes had moved from work to their hobbies, comic books and sci-fi books, movie and RPGs for Sam and fashion, friends, reading and art for Mercedes. The discovered that in addition to action movies they both loved Dean Koontz and Brandon Massey novels and were more than a little in love with old school horror like Poe and Stoker and Ireland. By the time Pierre came to take their dessert order, even the waiter could see the writing on the wall. As he wrote down their similar orders of the Black Bowl, a chocolate crumble parfait with cardamom glace, espresso air whipped cream and chocolate brulee cookie and the Rock, Pebble, Chocolate dish comprised of almond cream, warm truffles, cool truffles, and bon bons, he jotted on his note pad a note to raise his bet with Carl the bus boy he was paired with for the night. Those two would be married within six months and have a child on the way by the time they came back to celebrate the first anniversary of that evening. Pierre was so sure that he was going to up the bet to two hundred rather than the fifty it had begun at after the first course. 

Mercedes Jones Residence   
Wednesday, February 12th, 2020   
La Habra Heights, CA

As Sam walked Mercedes to her door, he was filled with certainty and purpose. “I wish that I didn’t have to head back to Nashville tonight.” He told her honestly. 

“Me either.” she smiled. “But you have all my contact information. So it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We can take this time to get to know each other better.” 

“I just want you to know, I’m taking that to mean that I can text and email you from the plane.” Sam warned.

Mercedes laughed merrily. “Good. Make the first email a cute story from your childhood.” She commanded. 

“Nope.” Sam shot back making the p really pop. “I want to know if I can make your panties completely combust from thirty five thousand feet.” 

“Boy stop.” She said with a flirtatious giggle. “But Sam, really…I had an incredible time tonight.” 

“Me too. It just felt like everything clicked into place tonight.” He smiled. Lowering his mouth to hers he captured her lips in a kiss that sent bolts of arousal shooting through her and for the first time in her life, the thought of tossing her virginity out the window was seriously considered. Before she could do something she probably wouldn’t regret near as much as she should, the door opened behind her. 

“Man, good thing you finally got here.” Puck’s voice cut through their pleasant haze of want and need. “We’re due at the airport in two hours, Trigger has everything packed and loaded in the SUV, but you’ve gotta get back to the hotel to check out of your room and return the rental car. Plus me and Tana ran out of condoms like an hour ago.” 

Sam and Mercedes sighed, but dutifully broke apart. “Hello Puck, nice to see you again. Glad I could help you win your crazy expensive motorcycle.” Mercedes started cordially. “If you get your dumb ass hurt on it…I will help your mom kick your ass. And you and Santana better not have gotten any booty juice on my couch.” 

“Love you too Mercy and I thank you for winning enough Grammys that Sam has no choice to but to keep up his end of our highly publicized bargain from the very bottom of my heart. You know that we kept our sexin’ to Tana’s room. I wouldn’t disrespect her or you like that.” Puck defended.   
Mercedes saw the sincerity and honest regard for her and Santana in her friend’s gaze. “Alright. But you’d better send her something nice Friday.” 

Puck agreed solemnly. “I will send Santana the boss ass Valentine’s gift. She still likes tiger lilies more than roses right?”

“Yeah, but she is in love with tulips now.” Mercedes told him with a smile…being Puck’s sounding board for wooing women was a role she was very used to fulfilling even if it had been some time since she was called upon to do so. 

Sam pulled her back against her. “And what about you Ms. Jones…what would a devoted acolyte to your beauty, talent and person send you for a romantic holiday?”

“Other than diamonds.” She teased before shyly admitting. “I have no idea. I’ve never really gotten a Valentine gift from a guy I liked before. The guy I dated in high school claimed he was a Jehovah Witness, and they don’t celebrate anything like that.”

“Lying mutherfucker. Shane’s ass was in Mass every time I turned my happy ass around.” Santana shouted from behind Puck. While the former Marine had gotten dressed, Santana had thrown on her kimono, fully authentic and purchased in Japan during one of Mercedes’ tour dates when she was opening for Beyoncé on Bey’s world tour. “You want me to think you’re good enough for my girl, Evans… get the Titans to trade Tinsley to the Buffalo Bills…or somewhere equally cold and fucking miserable.”

Mercedes started arguing with her best friend but behind, and above, her head Sam nodded solemnly. In his mind he was already trying to figure out how he could make up for all the years Mercedes had gone without gifts on the world’s most romantic of days…without freaking her completely out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)   
> 

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 5

Delta Airlines Flight 968  
Wednesday, February 12th, 2020  
Somewhere over Northern Texas

Sam looked over at a nodding Trigger to find that both Slick and Puck were still awake and texting feverishly. He smiled to himself as he turned his attention back to his laptop. In his email window, he had two different emails up, both addressed to the same person. On the first email he was composing the dirtiest letter he’d ever even thought to write. He spent five paragraphs just detailing all the things he would like to do to her bountiful bosom. Sam couldn’t help but smirk in amusement at the alliteration. Probably he should have been a little less loquacious about what he hoped to have the opportunity to actually do more than dream about, but he had warned her and he had kept the really dirty thoughts and words to himself. The second email contained the story of the first Christmas he could remember. He’d gotten six different Beyblades sets and one of the really cool stadium ring sets for it that Christmas and no one could tell him that it wasn’t the best Christmas anyone had ever had. Or at least that was how he felt until two Christmases later when his gift had been two pink and blue wrapped bundles who had wormed their way into his heart and made him aspire to be the best big brother in the world. Considering that the first thing he’d done when he got his very first check from his very first single was to make sure that they could go to the most expensive college in the whole wide world without having to take on an ounce of debt made Sam feel comfortable saying he’d achieved that goal. He also had a browser window open trying to decide if it was too soon to her a pretty diamond necklace that caught his eye when he was looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. 

He finished up both letters and hit send twice in quick succession just as the flight attendants told everyone to return tray tables and seats to their upright positions and turn off all electronics. Sam smiled as he noticed both Puck and Slick look like they wanted to argue. But both men quickly sent off last texts before following the instructions. As soon as they touched down and disembarked, Sam had his phone out texting Mercedes to assure her that they had had a safe flight. Then he texted his manager to find out the transportation situation, only to have the brisk, often annoying man call him back. “Sam…Sam…Sam…what am I gonna do with you? If you’re gonna end up on the front page of TMZ, Yahoo, and seventeen other rumor rags with some little bit of fluff…can you please give your manager a heads up?”

“Oh hold the hell up Simon. Mercedes Jones is no one’s bit of fluff. She just took home seven Grammys in one night if that ain’t a damn record…it must come damn close. Second of all…what are you talking about?” Sam shot back into his phone. 

In his office in downtown Nashville, Simon Dupree groaned. He should have realized that Sam wouldn’t have bothered to watch any news feeds or do any of the business of the music industry on his flight. “You were seen out and about in LA on two dates with the same voluptuous young lady of African descent. The rags are calling you two SamCedes and swearing that you’re going to be the music industry’s next power couple. But considering that I, your manager for the last three years, have never heard heads nor tails of this woman before you two popped up hugged up on each other at a chain restaurant that is basically just the adult version of Showbiz Pizza for God’s sake…I’m sure that as usual they have it all wrong.” 

Sam’s laughter transmitted pure, unadulterated joy over the miles between them. “Nope…for the first time I can think of…they got something concerning me completely right. I’m gonna marry that girl as soon as she says she will have me.”

At five foot ten inches tall and weighing a very muscular two hundred even, when in a suit the dark haired, dark eyed Cajun looked more like an Atlantic City pit boss than someone just one generation out of the bayou. Burying a startled groan, Simon pulled back and looked at his phone. He could not believe that he had just heard Sam say that. “Sam…Look, you the Golden Boy of Country are saying that you’re already planning on marrying a woman you just met three days ago. A black woman, when many of your fan base still try to say that the forty-fourth president was actually born in Kenya. Sam, some country fans still swear that George Zimmerman, Darren Wilson and Timothy Loehmann should be considered national heroes. Dating Mercedes Jones could hurt your career, marrying her will kill it. The blogs and Twitter are already going insane and not in a good way.” 

Sam shook his head. “Now Simon, ask me if I give a flying fuck what some racist bastards think about my personal life? You know how I feel about that kind of bullshit. It’s why confederate flags are banned at my shows. It’s why I still won’t do any tour dates in Alabama or Florida until they finally drop those Anti-LGBT discrimination laws.”

“I know that you don’t look at this kind of thing the same way some of your fans do…but do you really want to alienate country fans?” Simon prodded. 

Sam snarled a blue streak. Puck, Trigger and Slick surrounded him and got him into an alcove before he could create a photo op that might hurt him down the line. “If they don’t like who the woman I fell in love with just because of the color of her skin they can each individually and collectively kiss my hound dog’s ass. I will pull a Taylor or a Shania and cross the hell over for good.” Sam told his manager angrily. His music had already made in roads on pop and mixed media stations. It wouldn’t take him much at all to drop country music as a genre and move into the mainstream. 

Simon immediately decided to make plans to start shifting the focus of Sam’s marketing to facilitate crossing over. He’d heard true emotion in Sam’s declaration of love. Simon might not have much use for the emotion, but he knew that Sam came from a long line of romance novel, love only once, kind of relationships. If the blonde country crooner felt that Mercedes was his once in a lifetime love…nothing, not love of his fans nor all the money of the country music industry, would stop Sam from marrying her and keeping her with him always. “Sam, calm down…I am always on your side. Hurry up and get your bags there is a limo waiting on you to take you to the studio. You don’t want to be late.”

Sam nodded though he knew Simon couldn’t see him. “You coming out to the farm for the celebration dinner…Momma says she is cooking enough to feed an army.”

“I’m not about to miss out on one of your mother’s celebration dinners. Her sweet potato pie is a work of gastronomic art.” Simon told him honestly. “Besides, she still hasn’t forgiven me for missing the first one before I knew better.”

“This is true.” Sam smirked. “You’re from N’Orleans…you should’ve know better than to turn down an invitation like that Man…Southern mothers don’t play.” They signed off and Sam and Puck rushed off to the studio arriving with only minutes before they were scheduled t start work. Trigger and Slick took the luggage back to Sam’s house in the 12South/Belmont are of Nashville. The contemporary two and half story, five bedroom three and two half bath house was as different from the Evans family farm as one could get, but it was Sam’s pride and joy. He loved that house, even if his mother and sister both though that he needed to hire an interior designer…they kept calling the place ‘frat boy chic’. 

Once they had put Sam’s luggage in his master bedroom and reset the alarm the two security consultants could head to their own homes. While Sam had been on the phone with his manager, Puck had given the two of them their marching orders. Being former cops, Trigger and Slick had long ago decided that the hierarchy of command in their current job was pretty much just like the one from their previous one. Puck was like the Lieutenant. They reported directly to him but he, in turn, reported to the ‘Chief’ who was Sam. Sam had two commanding officers of similar but different standing. Dwight Evans was like the commissioner…but ruling over him was the Queen of the roost…or in lien with their established metaphor, the mayor. Puck knew that Mary would want to know everything that was being said about her son and all three of the security consultants knew that while Simon would know all of it, he’d never have to balls to give Mary or Dwight any bad news…Mary had put the fear of God into him three years before and he treated her with kid gloves ever since. Puck wasn’t one to protect people from the truth. So Slick adjourned to his two bedroom, two bath condo in the trendy Gulch section of town, and started looking through all the different rumor and industry sites to see if any of the more aggressive, and therefore more potentially dangerous, paparazzi had started on the trail of the story. While he was doing that, he set an in depth background check on Mercedes and her associates to run in the background. Slick knew that Puck had known them a long time, but he also knew that a lot could change in people in five or six years. They all seemed like good people, but his job and training didn’t allow him to take much at face value. In the more residential Sylvan Park area, Trigger had begun culling through two days of Twitter and Instagram feeds, Facebook posts and blogs to see if there were any credible threats against either Sam or Mercedes. While Mercedes wasn’t Trigger’s client, she was Puck’s friend and she seemed like a really good person. Besides, something told Trigger that it would only be a matter of time before Mercedes Jones became a very permanent addition to Sam Evans’ life, household and family. 

 

Mercedes Jones Residence  
Wednesday, February 12th, 2020  
La Habra Heights, CA

Mercedes woke from the single most erotic dream of her life to the ringing of her doorbell. She groaned and tried to bury her self deep enough into the covers and pillows that she could reenter dreamland. She hadn’t gone to sleep until she’d read both of the mile long emails Sam had sent her. She may have even read one of them twice, but she would never tell a soul which one. But it wasn’t meant to be. Santana’s voice called up the stairs. “Cedes, put away the vibrator before the batteries give out…Toni’s down here.”

She must have slept way later than she’d expected to if Santana was already home from her classes. “Lord, give me the strength not to smack that child one day when she catches me at the exact wrong moment.” Mercedes prayed quietly. Aloud she simply said, “I’ll be down in ten or fifteen.” Unable to shake off the feeling of arousal and want her blond haired, green eyed dream lover had sparked in her, Mercedes’ quick shower was quite a bit longer than she had anticipated and she was grateful that she’d decided to go for the soundproofing in her master bathroom, even if she still wished she had encompassed the entire master suite. By the time she got downstairs, Santana had thrown together a multi-berry and Greek yogurt smoothie, probably with some veggie hidden inside, and some spinach and Swiss omelets so that the star could eat while consulting with her manager. 

As soon as Mercedes was sitting at the table in the kitchen’s breakfast nook, Toni launched into the last thing Mercedes expected to come out of her mouth. “I know I should be shouting and all pissed off that I didn’t even get a heads up before you decided to start being seen around town with that country hotty…but girl that white boy is fine as hell. Please, please tell me that either you’ve already hit that or you’re gonna keep seeing him until you can ride him like his name was Zorro.” 

Mercedes sighed. While Mercedes considered her manager to also be her friend, Toni had no clue about her love life and that would have been how Mercedes would have preferred to keep it. Unfortunately she was very much a public figure and while it had been easy enough to ignore the paparazzi the night before, she couldn’t ignore the fact that inserted among the sound bites from the post Grammy win interviews, all the entertainment reporters could talk about was ‘SamCedes’ and their theories about how Puck was a former Marine who turned Sexy Rockstar Cupid to bring his friends together. “Puck is just gonna love that.” She muttered to herself. “Look, Toni, Sam and I are gonna see where this goes. He seems like he is a really good guy. And I think that he likes me back.” 

Antoinette Langlois rolled her eyes. Mercedes was one of her favorite clients, but she was as oblivious as hell when it came to members of the opposite sex. “Mercedes, bubbe, baby…you are a beautiful woman with a voice angels would weep to hear…but you are fuckin’ Mrs. Magoo when it comes to men. Playboy didn’t offer you a record breaking ten million dollars because you aren’t the hottest woman to walk a red carpet in a really long time. Men literally drool over you. I don’t know how you don’t realize that your ass has its own fan club…its membership is only slightly larger than the one dedicated to your tits. I don’t know what you see when you look in the mirror, but the rest of the world sees a very beautiful, very sexy young woman with a lot to offer the right guy.”

Santana cosigned Toni’s words simply adding, “Well all those guys are up shit’s creek. Evans is that right guy, Puck and I have totally vetted him. Mercedes is already in lurve and well on the way to being fully in love with him. And that guy is completely heads over heels in love with Ms. Mercedes Jones.” 

Toni looked at Santana carefully. “What do you mean vetted?” 

Santana smirked. “Puck has known Mercedes since we were all in the third grade. He got to know her as an actual person in high school. He’s known Sam for a while now. He knows his parents, his siblings; he knows all his sins and tragedies…”

A rather smug smile crossed Mercedes full lips. She knew that there was much about Sam that even Puck didn’t know. Things that Sam had shared with her. Things that made her care for him even more. “Look Toni, you are making it way too complicated. Sam is a great guy and I like him…he likes me back. We’re gonna date and see if this becomes something major.” Santana just looked at Tonia and started the hum the theme song from the old Fox show Married with Children. “Oh hush it up you. Why don’t we discuss you and Noah’s weekend? I mean, you two were the ones that ran out of condoms, after all not me and Sam.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong…every time you and Trouty go on one of your sweet little dates, you’d best ta believe that I’m gonna take another ride on the Puckerman Orgasm Express. Puck always could get me off with the quickness…and he’s only gotten better with time. But you and Sam are the ones already looking like you’re mentally planning the wedding…” Santana taunted. “The Feels were epic, Toni, there were hearts and flowers popping out of his eyes every time he looked at her. Except when his ass sprung major wood when he was looking at her humongous mounds of joy. No, seriously, at one point he was looking into her cleavage and started to straight up drool.” 

“Thank you ever so much Satan.” Mercedes sighed. “Thanks for reducing what I was sure was a deep and spiritual connection down to the most base elements it could possibly be.” 

Santana rolled her eyes. “Oh don’t you even try that one. You and I both know that Sam didn’t just exhibit lust; he was totally falling in love with you. We could all see it. I might kid and I might joke, but if you get scared and try to pull back you’re not gonna lay that shit at my feet.”

Mercedes at least had the grace to look abashed. “Okay, well now I’m all embarrassed for showing the whole world my insecurities.” 

Toni smirked. “You know ain’t nobody here but us chickens. Besides, I’m sure that that one was just one of many.” 

The side eye that was tossed at the manager only made her laugh all the harder. However before they could continue the conversation the doorbell rang. Santana headed to answer it. She still groused about not being Mercedes’ Mr. Belvedere, but she wasn’t gonna let Cedes open her own door just in case it was some crazy stalker guy. The feisty Latina was surprised to see Toni’s cousin and their preferred body guard standing at the door with a nerdy looking hipster chick in a shirt that read ‘Big Man Bakes’. “What’s the sitch, Tank?” She asked ignoring the chick beside him with a big pastry box. 

“Doing a favor for the Lovelorn.” He shot back. Tank, aka Thomas Langlois, was seven feet tall and a former Army captain, who had degrees in every possible literary, historical and political program he could find. Mercedes liked to tease that he could kill a man in more ways than even Santana could imagine…including boring them to death. “This is Noelle; I’m escorting her on a mission.” 

Since the broad was accompanied by a very trusted friend, Santana allowed her to come in and even to follow her into the kitchen. Noelle introduced herself primarily to Mercedes. “Hello, I’m Noelle, from Big Man Bakes,” she gestured to her shirt. “It’s wonderful to meet you. Sam Evans asked us to come out and have you taste test our main cupcake choices and decide on your favorite.” 

Toni looked over at Tank. “Insider trading is illegal Mofo. I’m calling off the bet on the grounds that you had inside information.”

“What bet?” Mercedes asked curiously as she took the box Noelle offered her. 

“Tank bet me a Disney week long, all park pass that you and Sam would be announcing your engagement before the Billboard Awards.” She answered with a grin. 

Santana added her own two cents. “Man me and Puck will be shocked if they make it to the ACMs without at least a big ass engagement ring. By the Billboards I’m fully expecting them to have eloped.”  


Shaking her head Mercedes quickly grabbed a cup of milk and took her place back at the table. “Shut up and when I’m dragging you to the gym later just know it’s your punishment for trying to live my love life for me.” 

“Well hell Boss Lady, somebody had to…you sure as hell weren’t.” Tank teased. 

Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Noelle, please tell me what I’m tasting?” 

The cake decorator had actually been so busy trying not to geek out at being in the, surprisingly normal looking, kitchen of a brand new Grammy winner, she hadn’t really heard the teasing going on around her. Hearing her name she startled but quickly figured out why she had been addressed. “There is a XL sized cupcake in each of our ten signature flavors: red velvet, carrot, both of those have cream cheese frosting, the old school which is a white cake flavored with vanilla and almond and frosted in Ghirardelli chocolate frosting, mounds, a dark chocolate cake with coconut and buttercream frosting, lemon, which is just what it sounds like topped with a simple vanilla frosting teasingly dusted with lemon zest, double chocolate, a classic chocolate cake topped with the Ghirardelli frosting, the coconut cupcake has the classic white cake with coconut and vanilla buttercream frosting, the caramel apple is really like an apple pie masquerading as a cupcake. It has Granny Smith apple chunks baked in spice cake with caramel frosting. The last two cupcakes are the vanilla, white cake with the vanilla frosting and the black and white which is the dark chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.” 

The extra-large cupcakes were so big that it was no problem for Mercedes to cut them all into fourths so that Santana, Tank and Toni could help her decide. By the time they had each tasted all ten of the cakes, there was a full on war going on. The cousins were squaring off in a fierce debate of black and white versus the old school while the best friends were arguing that it was either the red velvet or the carrot cake and not the caramel apple that was the best. Noelle mentally kept track of the feelings of Ms. Jones and only Ms. Jones. Sam Evans had been very clear Mercedes was to receive their Valentine’s Day special on the Monday following the holiday, a heart shaped box of forty eight of the mini cupcakes in the flavor of her choice. Chip had offered to just do an assorted box on the holiday, but apparently Mr. Evans really wanted her to have a treat that day as well. Ultimately, Noelle texted her boss that he should go with twenty four of the red velvet and twenty four of the carrot cake with one XL sized old school in the very center just to balance out the sea of ivory frosting. She managed to get Tank to walk her back to her car before an actual fight broke out. Santana and Mercedes loved to argue with each other and it often got out of hand. 

Toni noticed that the baker had gotten the information she needed and things between roommates had degenerated to arguing about what the super slight difference in color between the red velvet and carrot cake cupcakes’ frostings were. “So…he made a gesture the day after the date, and I’m betting money that our little visitor was here in preparation for whatever he has planned for Valentine’s Day…So Miss Thang what do you have planned to do for the obviously romantic Mr. Evans on the year’s most romantic day?”

Mercedes looked panicked and worried after a few minutes of thought. “I have no clue.” She groaned.  


Santana laughed hard. What started off as a chuckle turned into giggles which morphed into guffaws. When she finally calmed down, she shook her head and loudly asked. “How are we even friends? You have what has to be a dream situation for a girlfriend. You have someone in his camp who is at least a little more loyal to you than he is to Sam.” She rolled her eyes and started to speak as if she were talking to a child, or her ex-girlfriend. “Text Puck and ask him what kind of cologne Sam wears. Send him some of that and something else that reminds you either of who he is now or of the pizza delivery boy you were crushing on so hard back in the day.” 

“He wears Gucci Guilty.” Mercedes rebutted off handedly. “But he gets a new bottle from his mother every Christmas. I don’t want to step on their thing.” 

Both Toni and Santana were speechless for several long moments. “Damn girl, you guys must have talked your asses off over those two days.” Toni finally blurted out. 

“I know, right.” Santana laughed. “I’ve dated people for months without knowing that type of shit about them.” 

“Girl please, you’ve ‘dated’ people for months without learning their middle names.” Mercedes chided. “Would a watch work? Sam doesn’t wear much jewelry…not even cufflinks…and the ones he wears for the awards shows belonged to his grandfather so I’m not gonna try and get in the way of that tradition either.” 

“Okay, so a watch…that could be good…it could be read as you are looking forward to a future with him, or it could simply mean that you’ve enjoyed the time you shared and are counting the minutes until you are together again.” Tank said quietly. Unlike his cousin, he knew better than to interfere when Mercedes and Santana started going in on each other. He’d quietly stood by until his opinion was needed. “But you’re gonna want to include some smaller, fun gifts too.” 

“Whenever he delivered a pizza to the house, he’d have on a faded purple hoodie over the red and white Falcone’s Pizza shirt.” Mercedes remembered. “I could get him a fresh new purple hoodie; kind of let him know that I remember him as much as he remembered me.” that revelation led to the Grammy winner bringing her manager up to speed on the previous meetings of Sam and Mercedes. 

“Okay, when you guys are ready to make an announcement about being together, and I know you aren’t there yet, but when you get there…You have to let me use that. It will be the greatest romance story since Posh and Becks.” Toni reasoned. 

Santana gave Toni a look that clearly told her to be ready to run with it even as the Latina pulled Mercedes attention to herself. “Okay, the watch for sentimentality and romance, the sweatshirt for nostalgia…you still need something cute and fun…food maybe pizza or something.” 

“No, you can’t compare cupcakes to pizza…it needs to be something sweet.” Toni argued. 

“Sam does have a sweet tooth.” Mercedes nodded. “And he said that he hasn’t felt the same about pizza since he worked at Falcone’s.” 

“Alright, so we need to find a bakery in Nashville and have them deliver some sweet treats to Evans, do you want to shop for the watch and hoodie online and have them rushed or go the store and have them overnighted.” Tank asked. 

Santana shook her head, “it’s gonna have to be done online and rushed, Cedes is doing Stephen Colbert tomorrow night and the Today Show on Friday we’re supposed to be all packed and everything to leave first thing in the morning.” That was how Santana really earned her keep; though she knew Mercedes would have let her stay there just because they were friends, but the truth was that Santana greatly reduced Mercedes’ need for ‘People’. She was Cedes go to for styling advice when Kurt was being too Avant Guard and Deja was being too flamboyant. She was Cedes’ first line Public Relations guru, often pulling back the firm that handled her actual PR when they became too focused on the image and not focused at all on the person. Santana filled in when a background vocalist was needed and none could be found; she even helped Mercedes with song writing since Puck had taught her to play the guitar way back in the day. Santana shook her head. “In fact Kurt and Deja should be here in a couple of hours with look books to decide on her stage wear for those two performances.” 

“Internet it is.” Mercedes agreed. She was fine with that; she wasn’t all that interested in getting ‘real world dressed’ anyway. She cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher while Santana grabbed her MacBook from her bedside table charging pad. The watch was actually pretty easy, Mercedes pulled up the Nordstrom’s’ website and picked a silver and black Movado watch the line called the Luno Sport and added it to her bag. Then she went on a hunt for a purple hoodie, only to find that the only ‘purple’ men’s hoodie on the store’s site was very light colored and not at all what she had in mind. She checked out and made the arrangements to have the watch delivered to Sam’s home address. Mercedes was never so grateful that she and Sam had exchanged their full, entire, directory of contact information on a whim. It too her a while, but she finally found what she was looking for a deep purple, zip front hoodie in the correct size and that she was sure was of good quality and wouldn’t fade or shrink too fast. That was ordered and she set up the delivery for Friday for that as well. 

While she was researching to find the best bakeries in Sam’s home base city, she had a thought and decided to make sure it wasn’t too creepy. “Would it be really weird, or really sweet to send his mom and his sister flowers? I mean, he talked about them so much that I feel as if I know them…but I know that they probably don’t know anything about me. So I’d better not, right?”

Toni, Santana and Tank all sighed heavily. “Just no. Okay…I mean, I know that Sam is like your first real romantic entanglement…and don’t even try to mention Grimace the amazing jackass…but you cannot go all overboard. You can get for him…you can even get him something that he might share with his Moms and Baby sis…but no you cannot get them anything until after you’ve made some kind of major commitment to Evans.” 

If Mercedes could have visibly blushed, her entire head would have been red. “It was just a thought…jeeze…lay off Satan. You could have just said it was a creepy idea.” She rolled her eyes and refocused on her search. She finally decided on Sweet16th Bakery as they had a great selection of all kinds of sweet treats. “Okay, so cookies, cakes, tarts or cupcakes?” she asked. 

“Not cupcakes, he’s doing cupcakes.” Toni shot back. 

“Not cookies either.” Tank suggested, “You can never tell from pictures if they are soft or crunchy.”

“What is his favorite cake or pie?” Tana just asked.

Mercedes looked over the site to see if they had the things Sam had told her were his favorites. “They have German chocolate cakes and they have pecan tarts.” She read. “Okay, I’m going with the German Chocolate cake, because he’s on a mission to find one that is even close to being as good as his grandmother’s.” She was happy to see that the small company had online ordering and she ordered the cake and the bakery’s baked macaroni and cheese to be delivered to Sam on Friday. Once that was done, she looked over at Santana, “So what are you doing for Puck?”

Santana whipped out her trusty iPad mini and in minutes put it away. “There, I sent him some chocolate chip and pecan cookies from that bakery you found and a new motorcycle jacket to go with that Ducati you won him…easy peasy.” 

Kurt and Deja let themselves in the back door just in time to see Mercedes tossing a piece of fruit from the bowl on the table at Santana’s head. They just greeted Tank and Toni. Both of whom had to say their goodbyes and head out. Toni did have other clients, as did Tank. She returned to her office and he headed to get some rest he was guarding a very annoying pop princess that evening and he needed all the sleep he could get to deal with her bullshit. “So, Mercedes Josephine Jones…I’ve heard from a not so little birdie, that one Sam Evans is completely gone over you my Darling…so what say we find you some outfits that will make him drool over his television set.” Her flamboyant friend teased.

They went to work. While Santana was confirming their reservations for one of The Mark’s spacious three bedroom, three and a half bath gallery suites, Kurt, Deja and Mercedes got comfortable around the banquette. The first step was to look over Mercedes’ previous night time talk show performance and interview outfits so that they wouldn’t put her into anything too similar. Then they went over the itinerary provided by each show. Colbert would interview her as the first guest and then she would perform to close the show. That would necessitate two different looks. The Today Show was completely different. She would sing and then be interviewed immediately thereafter. Also, because it was a morning show her look could not be as over the top as the night time look they were determining for the Colbert late show. 

Once the overall perimeters of the fashion need were established, Kurt pulled up the gallery of clothing that she owned, or had been given that would suit. It took them quite some time, but they finally decided on a black cocktail dress that was fashionable but demure for the Late Show interview and a bold blue jumpsuit for that performance. Mercedes was a rather rare performer in that her performance looks were often culled from the runway and augmented or customized as needed. Her look for the Today Show definitely showcased that fact. Together, Mercedes, Kurt, Deja and Santana picked out a Donna Morgan jersey shift dress in a red white and black print that subtly looked ‘Valentine’sy’ without being overt or having tons of hearts and flowers. Since it was winter and she could, she picked a pair of black, suede over the knee dress boots with four inch heels. Of course, that meant that they had to go back and pick out shoes for other the interview and performance. Santana was quick to bend the others to her will in electing for Mercedes to wear a pair of Jimmy Choo dress sandals with a gossamer black ribbon type bow embellishment around the ankle strap for the interview. 

There was an argument between Deja and Kurt as to which booties Mercedes should wear for the late night performance. Kurt’s pick were a pair of black suede ankle booties with a peep toe front. They were very safe and the heel wasn’t even that high for the dancing. Deja’s choice was anything but safe. They mirrored the silver detailing of the belt at the natural waist of the jumpsuit. They boasted lace sides with silver beading and leaf shaped details. The BCBGMAXZARIA booties had super thin four inch stiletto heels, and would be hell on Cedes’ feet if she was in them for more than an hour, but they would look amazing, especially if she allowed Kurt and Deja to modify the legs of the jumpsuit by giving the palazzo pants slits and vents to show off Cedes’ smooth legs and the beautiful shoes. Once Deja raised the chance to make a great performance outfit even more unique, Kurt was all for going with the silver shoes and the tailoring. So much so that he and Deja immediately launched into a discussion of whether or not it would be cooler to go with straight slits and vents, or if they should make curved lines or even flames. Mercedes laughed told them she liked the idea of curves that mimicked the trails of beads on the shoes and left them to it. 

As soon as Mercedes had headed up to her room to run her scales and all the other vocal exercises she did every single day, Santana took her spot at the table. “Kurt did Slick tell you about Sam’s surprise?”

Kurt nodded. “He also told me that Noah is planning a little something for you too Santana...”

Santana smirked. She was still a little surprised that she and Puck had decided to try to be at least a little more than FwBs. She was really surprised that he had been the one to suggest it. “I know that I need to plan for some sort of date, but you know I’ve got me. We’ve gotta get Mercedes settled. I was thinking that we’d put her in red or purple since she was in that navy blue last time.”

“There is that beautiful red Badgley Mischka cocktail dress that she has yet to find an occasion to wear.” Kurt suggested thoughtfully. “Knee length, ruched and tailored to follow her every curve…plus it is long sleeved, perfect for a Manhattan winter evening. I can pull it when I get the three performance pieces.” 

“I’ll make sure that she packs the right foundation garments.” Santana agreed. “So are you and Slick doing anything that night?” 

Kurt laughed happily. “We’re going to have dinner and maybe see a show. I think Artie has a show on stage right now.” 

“How funny is it that he ended up a stage director after all his shit talking about taking Hollywood by storm?” Tana teased. 

Kurt smiled. “Well he fell in love and Sonja residency was in one of New York’s most prestigious hospitals. She couldn’t leave and he wasn’t leaving her…besides, he’s only twenty-five and just got nominated for a Tony…I think it worked out well for him.”

“Have you already got him handled?” Santana asked curiously. The Tonys weren’t until June, but she knew that Artie needed to get a head start on things to make sure that everything worked well with both his chair and his Re-Walk. 

“Custom tailored Givenchy Madonna flat-front tuxedo trousers and a gorgeous Givenchy velvet evening jacket, and an Ike Behar white textured bib tuxedo shirt. Sonja is getting him a set of sterling silver Elsa Peretti Sevillana cufflinks and tie bar from Tiffany’s for their anniversary which is in two weeks.”

“That will look nice. What is Sonja wearing?” She asked curiously. Most of the New Directions had met the doctor in training that had stolen their friend’s heart. For the most part they all agreed that Sonja Natalia Denisof, the daughter of a Spanish ballroom dancer and her Russian musician husband, was an almost eerie combination of Santana and Brittany. She, of course, had Tana’s coloring and modest curves, but she was tall and moved like Brittany. Her intelligence was off the charts, but in a much more readily observed way than Brittany’s and she didn’t hide her heart away like Santana was prone to do, but shared their Latina friend’s loyalty. 

“A blood red vintage Donna Karan twist knot superfine jersey floor length gown with a lightly draped skirt slit up the front to half way up her thighs, she is going to look amazing if I do say so myself.” Kurt told her with a grin. “I’m still tracking down her shoes, but she is proving difficult…she danced until college and thinks her toes are too misshapen for open toes. I see no problem. I mean, many models have ugly feet that never stops them from being fashionable.” 

“That might be true, but if she will be more comfortable wearing closed toe shoes, find her a pair that are fashionable and let her have her emotions soothed. It will make for a more enjoyable evening for her.” Deja said calmly. “What about that pair of Jimmy Choo Alias Lace Pointed-Toe Black Pumps we saw when we were at Neiman Marcus a few weeks ago? They will be open enough for you but with the patent leather closed toe, they should offer Sonja the coverage she would prefer.” 

Kurt laughed happily. “I knew I liked you Deja, that is perfect.” He pulled a picture down from the Neiman Marcus site and shot it to Sonja and Artie versus email. “Okay, with that off my plate let’s turn our attention to hair and accessories.” The trio got back to work as Mercedes vocals trialed down the stairs making their jobs even easier as they were able to bask in the melodious sound. By the end of the afternoon, they had everything settled, Kurt and Deja adjourned to Kurt’s studio to pull and pack the four looks for the two shows and Sam’s surprise. Santana and Mercedes got her packed and then took care of packing for Santana as well. Once everything was set, they spent the promised time in the gym working off the cupcake sampling before calling it a day and relaxing with some movies. If they were both paying more attention to the screens of their phones than to the movie they picked, well they kept that between them. 

Before Santana would allow Mercedes to retire for the evening, she did run her through mock versions of a comedic late night interview and the more journalistic morning interview. Once they were satisfied that Mercedes would be ready for anything they headed to their rooms to shower and rest. Both women went to bed tired but very happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 6

The Mark Hotel  
25 E 77th St, New York, NY  
Suite 1521  
Friday February 14th, 2020

Sam was all kinds of exhausted. He’d flown to LA the previous Friday and was there for several days, experienced a major life changing event, flew home, put in a full day at the studio and made all the arrangements for making sure the Mercedes had the best first real valentine’s experience he could imagine. It had taken him several favors but he had managed to get them reservations for Le Bernardin for eight and tickets for ‘War of the Roses’. Mercedes had told Sam about the time when she was little and gotten strep throat, she and her mother had spent the days she was out of school watching old school Kathleen Turner movies. ‘War of the Roses’ had been her very favorite. He hated the fact that they’d both been a little disappointed with If/Then. Slick and Puck had both used Sam’s connections to get tickets for Kinky Boots. He had aimed them that way even though he knew that it was a show Mercedes herself had mentioned as one she wanted to see. He was sure that Mercedes would love it when he found out that Laverne Cox was guest starring that weekend as Lola, the show’s starring role but ultimately he wanted to do something, at least theoretically, different than they had done the time before. He prayed he made the right decision.

As he thought of the beautiful and thoughtful woman he would be taking out for a night on the town in a very short amount of time Sam smiled to himself. He’d been heading to his car to grab Puck and make their flight when a FedEx truck pulled up to his door. Texting Trigger on his way to the front door, their original plans had been quickly changed. He’d gone back through the house and made it to the door before the guy had left with his packages. He’d barely gotten the handheld device signed before a truck from Stevie Evans’ favorite bakery pulled up to the door. Sam made his way deeper into his home, pulled the cards from the two food packages put them into the subzero freezer before putting the other packages into his check bag so he could make his flight. Trigger was playing driver for them since he was staying in Nashville rather than going to New York. Per Sam’s text he would take the long way between Slick’s and Sam’s which would allow him to swing through and pick up Puck. Trigger had a date that he’d made before their trip to LA and Sam didn’t feel he would be needed, so the former cop was happily holding things down in their home base. 

The flight had been great. Sam had been able to watch Mercedes’ The Today Show performance and interview while seated at the gate and not for the first time he wondered how he had managed not to notice her before the Grammys. She was amazing. Her first song had been an audience requested love song. Literally people had been voting all week on Today’s website, so Mercedes had no clue which of the five songs she would be singing. Ultimately the die-hard lovers in the audience had spoken and she had to tackle one of her idols most iconic songs ‘I Will Always Love You’. The sheer talent and emotion she conveyed with her version was just awe-inspiring. Sam was man enough to admit that she made tears well up in his eyes. He looked over at Puck and saw that the former Marine was jumping in his seat pointing at the screen of his tablet making the universal ‘that’s my girl, right there’ gesture. Slick leaned over and whispered, “As a gay man, I am not allowed to say that anyone can do that song justice let alone surpass the Whitney version…but man damn. You’d besta keep that woman.” 

During the following interview, Matt Lauer had asked Mercedes about the reports that they were dating and she gave him basically the same answer she had given Stephan Colbert the night before. “Sam is a wonderful guy. We met through a friend I’ve literally know pretty much as far back as I can remember. One who is completely over protective and if Sam were the least but sketchy, he would have never introduced us. Yeah, so I guess all of that was to say we’ve gone out a couple of times, I really enjoyed the chance to see where this could be going. Oh and, Matt, if you’re going to give me a copy of the Redneck to English Dictionary, I’m sorry, but Colbert beat you to it.”

Puck laughed at the answer and Slick threw Sam a look that told him that they all knew how far Sam wanted it to go…all the way. After the interview, rather than doing one of her own songs, Mercedes asked what song had come in second and treated the world to her rendition of the Etta James classic ‘At Last’.

Sam shook off his reverie as he checked the time and made sure that he had everything. He looked down at his new watch and grinned goofily. It was a great watch and it was from Mercedes so he couldn’t look at it without smiling. Plus it made him feel better about how much he’d spent on her. He grabbed the small signature blue box and a larger ivory and gold wrapped box with a large, elaborate gold bow. Checking himself out in the mirror one last time, he nodded; pleased with the way he looked in his charcoal Calvin Klein suit with a pearl gray shirt and deeper gray tie with small sworls of red. The tie was mirrored in his pocket kerchief, and he had two regular, useable handkerchiefs in his pants pocket. As soon as he got Santana’s text he made his way to the lobby. 

Sam was waiting, not so patiently at all, when the elevator doors opened and Santana, Kurt, Deja exited, pulling a resistant Mercedes with them. His jaw dropped and his mouth watered in the same instant. She looked amazing in a cherry red, long sleeved cocktail dress that subtly clung to her curves and despite not showing a hint of cleavage made her breasts look both huge and gorgeous. He stared at her wealth of curls that had been pulled up into a twisted updo that looked regal and yet playful at the same time. Her ears were adorned by earrings any fashionista worth their salt would easily identify as vintage Oscar de la Renta crystal vine drop earrings, leaving her neck bare to Sam’s gaze. His hungry eyes traced the red jersey over Mercedes prodigious curves to the silken smooth brown of her legs. He took in the flesh, wanting nothing more in that moment than to feel them wrapped around him, preferably with her still wearing the high heeled black leather sandals with the big, light, airy black bows that would surely tickle his shoulders or back or hips or flanks…he wasn’t particularly picky. “Oh my God, you are unearthly gorgeous,” he breathed. 

Mercedes’ head whipped around shocked to hear his voice and even more surprised to see him standing there before her. “Sam.” She breathed. Her eyes floating over his strong, wide shoulders encased in cotton and wool. His strong chest and slender waist and hips, down over his sturdy thighs that looked muscular whether wrapped in cotton, denim, or wool as they were that night, she looked him over from top to bottom and felt a sensation that was quickly becoming far too familiar…the rush of wetness and she flooded her panties for him. Her eyes locked onto his wrist. “You got your valentine’s gifts…you’re here…” 

He gave her a crooked grin. “I couldn’t very well leave my girl without a date on the most romantic night of the year.” He crossed over and pressed a lingering, but chaste kiss to her warm, brick red lips. 

“Oh really, Mr. Evans.” She said coyly. “So I suppose I have you to thank for these two forcing me to get dressed when I had fully intended to make this a night of popcorn and anti-rom coms.” 

“Like you do every year.” Kurt muttered soto voice. “Anyway, you can thank us later, you aren’t the only one with a date tonight.” He gave her two air kisses to her cheeks and headed to the lobby where Slick was waiting on him. 

“Hummel might be an annoying gnat of an ass…but he ain’t wrong.” Santana teased. “Have fun and if you make it back to that room before Deja does, she is gonna tell me and I will never let you live it down.” The Latina straightened her navy blue mini dress, flipped her long curls over her shoulder and gave them a wave as she headed off to meet Puck on five inch nude stilettos. 

Sam looked up from where he’d been staring at Mercedes, just enjoying having her back in his arms and wondering how he could have missed her so much when he’d only been without her for slightly longer than he’d known her. “Deja, do you have something planned for tonight?” he said hoping that his voice didn’t convey how much he was praying the answer was yes. 

“Don’t worry Sam, I’m meeting up with some girls from the old neighborhood and we’re getting tore up.” she told him with a wicked smirk. “But we fly out first thing Sunday morning so have her home by then.” She chided before sauntering off as well.

Mercedes took a deep breath, loving the smell of Sam and being back in his embrace. “So what are our plans for the evening, Mr. Evans?” 

“Well first, we need to stop by the concierge desk to pick up the gifts I got for my girl for our first Valentine’s Day.”

“Oh really, so I’m your girl now.” She teased as they headed to the desk. 

Sam nodded. “Oh you are so my girl. My woman. My goddess, my muse…my reason d’etre…” 

“Wow…so do you actually know French or just a few phrases?” 

“Actually know how to speak it reasonably well, Spanish and German too…I can’t read it to save my soul though. With my dyslexia I have no idea if the letters are in the right order or not in the first place…”   
Mercedes looked up at him thoughtfully. “It’s cool that you learned to speak the languages. I am almost fluent in French, but Santana has to act as a translator whenever I have an event in a Spanish speaking place, and there are often idioms she misses because she speaks Puerto Rican and Cuban Spanish, not Mexican or actual Spanish.” 

Sam smiled down at her “You know the two languages are somewhat similar, it probably wouldn’t be that hard to learn Spanish too.” 

She shrugged. “Naw…if I take the time to learn a language, I think I’ll go with something Asian or Germanic. Let Santana keep her job. She gets really tetchy when I try to hire anyone else to do any of the things she considers her domain.” 

“Yeah, I can tell she is very protective of you. So is Puck. He gave me the shovel speech twice before our first date.” Sam told her quietly as he signaled the consierge for his packages. 

“Oh really. What’s his version? When we were in high school and he finally got serious about a girl, I told her that I didn’t care how big she was, how bad she was…if she hurt him I’d get my dad’s sledgehammer and make sure that her knees would never support her weight again.” Sam shot her a weird look. “Hey like Willow said, a vague disclaimer is no body’s friend. Besides she was a wrestler, state champion…I figured that I should make the plan of action something that a…I could do and b…would hurt her worse than just killing her.”

“Wait…you threatened Lauren Zizes…the current WWE Heavyweight champion…the first woman to hold a men’s division belt since Chyna was the Intercontinental champion? She is awesome, and she gave Puck enough tickets for all of us including my dad and little brother when they were in Nashville.”

Mercedes grinned. “Lauren is good people. After I told her what I’d do if she every hurt Puck, she laughed and told me that she knew I would be fun. We got to be pretty good friends after that. She really helped me find my sassiness when I was losing it.” 

“I cannot imagine you lacking gumption or sass ever.” He pressed a kiss to his cheek, and ushered her out the door to the cab stand. The cab ride wasn’t long, and they chatted talking more about those of her friends that he had met. He kept both packages on his lap as they rode, increasing Mercedes curiosity with every minute they were traveling. Their arrival at the exclusive French restaurant was heralded by a plethora of paparazzi who’d never dreamed they would get as lucky as they did. Sam exited the car first turning to help Mercedes vacate the vehicle never dropping her gifts. The paps got their pictures including several that showed the couple looking deeply into each other’s eye’s Tiffany’s unmistakable box in the foreground. 

The Matre ‘D quickly ushered them in and had them seated in a very intimate table away from both the windows and the bathrooms. Sam had actually preordered the Le Bernardin Tasting for their table which meant that the wines were selected for them based on the Chef’s and the restaurant’s sommelier educations and the food that would be being served. It was a little high handed, but Sam was willing to risk her wrath to gain the benefits of fewer interruptions, Mercedes not realizing that their dinner was almost four hundred dollars per person and being able to pay and even tip ahead of time which would allow them to leave in time to make the theatre. Since Sam remembered Mercedes’ disdain for caviar, he was happy to see that it wasn’t actually a part of their chosen menu. Within moments of their being seated, their waiter arrived with their first course. The waiter brought them yellowfin tuna carpaccio with Iberico ham “chutney,” sea beans drizzled lemon-extra virgin olive oil and paired with a delicious Grüner Veltliner, Gmörk, Anton Bauer, Wagram, Austria 2013, before disappearing as soon as the food was served and their water goblets filled. 

“Wow Sam, you’re going all out tonight.” Mercedes smiled shyly. She was feeling very well taken of, almost cherished. It was a rather novel feeling for her. Usually she took care of those around her.   
He smiled at her, happy to see that she seemed to like his ‘heavy handedness’, but when he responded his tone was more serious than she had heard from him before. “Mercy, I want this to be the first of fifty or sixty valentine’s we spend together. That means treating you right. It means pulling out all the stops and remembering that I can’t just behave this way on special occasions and leave you wondering about my feelings the rest of the time.” 

Something in Mercedes compelled her to open her mouth and not hide behind all the thoughts running through her head. In her heart she heard the lyrics of one of her mother’s favorite gospel songs. ‘It takes faith to step out on nothing and believe that something is there’. She knew that behind her fear, her head felt the same way. God was giving her the chance to have the kind of love the old folks used to tell kids about, she just had to trust and believe that what He had for her was in front of her in that instant. Despite the fear and the insecurities and the fact that many…most of the people that they encountered everyday…wouldn’t understand, she decided to tell Sam the truth. “I want that, with you, too Sam.” Her voice was strong though the words were quietly uttered. 

Taking Mercedes small, strong little hand in his much larger one, Sam released a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. The truth was that he’d been scared shitless that he’d be rejected telling her his feelings so early in their relationship. He’d been very hesitant to do so. Whenever Sam found himself conflicted in the face of making a choice, he prayed. It was what he’d always been taught to do when he needed an answer. The day before he’d been praying, asking God if he should be sure that Mercedes was who God meant for him to be with…if she was the lifelong love God had put on the earth just for him. Just when Sam was feeling like he was praying over and over without getting an answer, he’d flipped onto a very old episode of the West Wing. The president, played by Martin Sheen, was talking to a priest played by Karl Malden. The president was feeling like God hadn’t answered his prayer either, so his priest was telling him a story about a man who’d been warned of a flood but didn’t evacuate. The man had stood fast in his home through two subsequent rescue attempts so sure that God wouldn’t let anything happen to him. When he’d been killed by the flood waters, the man had been angry and not understood why God had let it happen to him. God had looked at the man and simply said “I sent you a news report, a boat and a helicopter…what the hell are you doing here”. In that instant Sam realized that he already knew God’s answer to his prayers…he just had to do his part and accept the answer He had given. 

“Thank you.” Sam finally spoke. They finished their first course, very happy with the delicious food and the sumptuous wine. 

“So, you excited about the ACMs. They are coming up soon right?” Mercedes asked into the companionable silence that had enveloped them. 

Sam nodded. “A couple of weeks after the Kids Choice Awards. You’re up for favorite female artist on that one aren’t you?”

Mercedes nodded. “And I think your ‘My Kind of Party’ is up against my ‘Leave a Light On’.” She chuckled. “I think your party song is gonna beat my love song at that one.” 

Sam laughed too. “I don’t know. Your voice has mine beat hands down.” The waiter returned with their barely cooked scallops over brown butter dashi and a wine glass of R. Pouillon, Brut Solera, France. When he’d refilled their water as well, he unobtrusively walked away. “So, would you like to go with me…I mean accompany me to the Kids Choice awards and the ACMs?”

“Will that cause you any trouble? I mean, there are still quite a few country fans that don’t necessarily like…” she made a vague gesture at herself. Neither of them wanted to taint their evening by her finishing that statement verbally. 

Sam’s eyes tightened for just a second as he fought the urge to tear down the world and rebuild it in her honor. “If they don’t like it, they can bite me. I have no intention of losing you over some dumbass back wood bigots.” 

“Then, Sam, I would be quite honored to attend both those momentous occasions in your company. Would you like to attend the Billboard and BET awards with me?” Mercedes teased. 

He nodded. “I suggest we just consider each other our respective dates for all future awards ceremonies unless there is a conflict of schedule that cannot be changed.” 

“I’m good with that.” She said simply. It wouldn’t be that simple. They would have to put Kurt in contact with Sam’s stylist to make sure that their looks would be cohesive, without matching. They would have to let their managers know so that they could make sure the proper spin and tint was put on their appearances. But neither of them really gave a damn. 

When the waiter returned to clear their plates, they had a short time when the table was clear and it was just the two of them. So Sam smiled. “I love my watch and the hoodie is awesome. I used to have one just like it in high school.” 

“I remembered.” She admitted. “That was not as easy to find as you’d think.” 

“Well, I appreciate it.” Sam smiled. “I hope that you’ll like my gifts to you as much. It’s funny how alike we were thinking. We both went with jewelry and apparel.” He put both boxes on the table, the Tiffany box on top. “But you probably won’t want to open the apparel here.” he warned her gently. 

Mercedes took him at his word and opened the jewelry store box to find a beautiful necklace. The chain was certainly platinum and suspended on it, joining the two sides as surely as the lobster clasp was a deceptively delicate two inch wide infinity symbol made of round cut diamonds in a platinum setting. “So…I gave you the watch as a metaphor for hoping that we would have a lot of time together in the future.” She kept her voice casual, trying valiantly to keep the hopefulness she was feeling from creeping in.

Sam blushed. “I gave you the infinity necklace as a statement of how long I wanted to be with you.” Sam helped her take it from the box and put it on “I kind of had to talk myself out of looking at the engagement rings. I figured we weren’t there yet.” 

Mercedes laughter floated over several other tables, though the occupants were very careful not to look over. “I appreciate that. I will say that I don’t think I would want a ring from Tiffany’s…that just seems a little…”

“Overdone.” Sam finished for her. The waiter arrived with the chef’s next offering, warm peekytoe Maryland lump crab artistically hidden under a tower of shaved heirloom cauliflower and surrounded by a mustard emulsion. The wine pairing for the course was a Cava, Gran Reserva Barrica, Agustí Torelló Mata, Catalonia, Spain 2007. While Sam and Mercedes were gracious to their waiter, neither of them was really paying him much attention. He however was paying them as much attention as he could get away with. One of his NYADA classmates had paid him a hell of a lot of money to tell her whenever Sam Evans came back to the restaurant. Once he’d realized who he’d be serving that night, he had texted her the information. He’d needed to sneak out to where the waitstaff took their smoking breaks to do so and while he’d been out there one of the paparazzi had given him half a stack to tell them what was in the Tiffany box. Though he wasn’t able to get a picture, in the restaurant, it didn’t take him long to find the necklace on the store’s site and send the erstwhile pap the link. 

At the table Mercedes and Sam were both enjoying their dinner and each other’s company. “So…when do you think would be appropriate to look at such a ring, Ms. Jones?” he asked teasingly. 

“Well, I suppose it would be appropriate to look at rings after we’ve exchanged declarations of love and commitment to each other and this relationship.” 

Sam thought back over the discussions they had had that night and on their previous date. They hadn’t told each other that they loved each other yet, but they had definitely fulfilled the other requirements. “And if a gentleman were to wish to buy you a ring to accompany a proposal of marriage…what would said ring look like?” 

Mercedes understood what he was asking and the significance of the query. “I still love the halo rings that were popular a few years ago. There was one company that put their own spin on it though. Rather than just a simple halo, the setting was wrapped around and seemed to almost caress the center diamond. It was really beautiful, but while I saw it on an advertisement, I’ve never seen it on anyone’s hand.” 

“That sounds beautiful.” Sam murmured as he made mental notes. “So I know that you’d prefer platinum to gold…would you want colored stones in your engagement ring at all?”

She shook her head. “I could claim that I was a traditionalist, but the truth is that it is too hard to always match the rest of your look to the engagement rings with colored stones. Since I am never, ever taking it off…it’s best if it just matches everything.” She took a bite of the wonderful meal and a sip of wine as Sam looked thoughtful.

“So…not Tiffany’s, unique but a little vintage, platinum and pure diamonds.” He nodded as if memorizing what she had said. He picked up his fork and they quietly finished the crab course, just in time. The waiter appeared and took the empty plates and glasses replacing them with perfectly cooked wild salmon with snow peas floating shitake-matsutake broth and two glasses of chardonnay, sandhi, Santa Barbara, California 2013. 

Mercedes looked at Sam, “so…if you were to propose to a woman would you be willing to wear a wedding ring.” Many men in the entertainment industry chose not to do so. She wanted to know how Sam felt on the situation. 

“Evans men always wear wedding rings. They are never passed down because we’re always buried in them. Not one of us believes that real love is severed by death.” He told her earnestly. “I’ve always thought that rather than saying ‘til death do us part’, at our wedding we’d replace that with ‘in this world and the next’.” He didn’t even realize that he’d dropped the pretense of the hypothetical.   
Mercedes took back up the pretense, just in case it was still necessary. “And what kind of ring do you envision wearing?” 

Sam smiled. “Something simple, platinum…a wide masculine band…no stones at all. That seems a little frou-frou to me. I’d want it to match yours.” He purposely dropped all pretenses and he looked her in her eyes as he did so to make sure that she understood there was no need for it any longer. They quickly consumed that course and enjoyed the next tasting plates containing wild striped bass over zucchini caponata playfully surrounded by a merlot-black olive emulsion served alongside a wonderful Château Les Ormes de Pez, Saint-Estèphe, Bordeaux, France 2006.

When the waiter brought their palate cleanser of Coconut Yuzu Sorbet dusted with Clementine Snow and accompanied with glasses of Moscato d’Asti, “Vigna Senza Nome,” Braida Giacomo Bologna, Piedmont, Italy 2013, he noticed that though they hadn’t moved physically, they seemed closer than they had at the beginning of the night. 

Mercedes knew that, thus far, Sam had been the one making most of the leaps of faith…opening himself up to her rejection more than she had. “Sam, I am falling in love with you so damn hard.”  
The doors to their hearts were thrust open in that simple declaration of love. Sam stepped in to hers with a wide smile, knowing that she had taken up residency in his before he’d ever spoken to her. He took her hand and replied, “I love you too.” Their desert, hazelnut praline, a flourless hazelnut cake with a Gianduja mousse, Orange Curd and Praline Ice Cream offered with a glass of Château Doisy - Védrine, Sauternes, Bordeaux, France 2008, was amazingly delicious. 

Sam and Mercedes finished up and the Matre D had a cab waiting to take them to their next destination. The iconic Broadway Theatre. The adaptation of the novel that was older than either of them, was true to the book and even more relevant in the modern world than it had been fifty years before. The amusing tale took Sam, Mercedes and the rest of the audience from suburban bliss to a deadly territorial battle. Jonathan and Barbara Rose seemed to be the perfect couple. They had it all, great careers a large home which the rich antique collection that originally brought them together, and a loving familial bond that intertwines them with their children, Eve and Josh. During the whole set up of the play’s conflict, Sam listened to Mercedes waxing lyrical about the subtle differences between Kathleen Turner’s portrayal of Barbara and the actress they were watching. Then as the play took its dark turn Jonathan had what he thought was a heart attack which forced Barbara to confront the loveless spell lingering between them, Sam leaned over and whispered gently, “We are never going to be them. We’re gonna make sure that we work at our love and marriage at least as hard as we do our careers.” The Roses’ mutual hatred became the ammunition in a domestic warfare that escalates the unfolding chaos in the most unpredictable ways. 

Despite the surface ‘message’ by the end of the play Mercedes definitely agreed with the show’s producers, that the book was far more of an indictment of the legal system, rather than a statement as to the institution of marriage. “We’re never getting divorced, but if we do, NO Sharkish lawyers.” She told her future as they gathered their stuff and left the theatre. Sam’s enthusiastic agreement illustrated to Mercedes that he viewed what they had watched the same way she did. A fact which cemented their connection even further in her mind.

The happily in love couple returned to their hotel after the play. Sam asked the concierge to send up a bottle of Delamain Pale & Dry XO cognac and two glasses be sent up to Mercedes room and billed to his. Of course the man was more than happy to oblige. As soon as they were on the elevator, Mercedes pushed the button for the eighteenth floor and held Sam’s hand so he wouldn’t try to push his. She lead him down a hallway that had far fewer doors than his own and let them into the large suite that she and her small entourage were inhabiting for the weekend. 

The Mark Hotel  
25 E 77th St, New York, NY  
Suite 1820  
Saturday February 15th, 2020

As soon as they entered the room Mercedes turned to Sam, “I’m gonna go and take off these Choos. Why don’t you find us something to watch…we can talk a little more.” 

“Just a sec.” Sam smiled. “There is something I’ve been wanting to do all night.” he pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. He kept the kiss light for just a moment before sliding his tongue along the seal of her lips asking for entrance. Mercedes lips parted of their own volition, and Sam took full advantage deepening the kiss until their breaths mingled and their tongues dueled. Sam poured every ounce of want, need, desire and love he felt for her into the kiss. When their lungs began to protest the lack of oxygen, only then did they break the kiss. “God, you taste so fucking good.” He moaned. 

Mercedes hid a smile as she buried her face in his neck. “Not as good as you smell.” Feeling bold and more comfortable in his embrace than she’s ever thought possible, she pressed feather light kisses to his neck and jaw.

“Girl, if you had any clue what you do to me…” Sam moaned. Involuntarily his arms tightened around her as his emotions overcame his good sense. 

Even someone with Mercedes very limited experience could understand and feel exactly what he meant. A deep, visceral moan was pulled from her throat against her rather considerable will. “God, Sam.” Mercedes gently ground her body against the large, hard bulge that was pressing into her stomach.   
Sam reveled in the delightful sensations she caused as desire bolted through already enflamed nerve endings…but he only allowed himself one all too short moment of revelry. “I promised you that I would respect your boundaries…so, I’m gonna run down to my room and chuck the suit and throw on some comfy clothes…you do the same. When I get back we’ll decide on a movie and you can open your other gift.” 

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Mercedes forced herself to say. She pressed her body fully against Sam’s for the briefest instance and pecked a quick kiss to his reddened lips before pulling back and disappearing down the hall. Suddenly she had a thought. She raced back out and handed him the keycard for the room. “That way you won’t have to wait on me to get to the door.” she told him before she disappeared into the suite’s master bedroom. 

Sam walked out of the room and leaned against the wall for a minute centering himself and willing his body back under control. Only then did he go and call the elevator. Sam made sure that his trip to his room took as little time as humanly possible. In minutes, he’s shed his suit, leaving it laying neatly over the back of the room’s plush armchair, donned a pair of soft gray cotton pants that skated the line between sweat pants and slacks. Over that he threw on a dark grey tee shirt with slightly faded lettering that read ‘I’m not Anti-Social, I’m Anti-Stupid’. He shoved his feet into his sketchers and returned to Mercedes room just in time to sign for the cognac. 

He rolled the small rolling cart into the suite’s living room and removed the surprising silver server to see a snack tray offering them a variety of nuts and sweet fruits as well as hazelnut chocolate truffles. There was a note with the stemless cognac glasses that read. ‘We, the management of The Mark Hotel, have taken the liberty of including some treats that pair well with your ordered libation. Please enjoy them with our compliments.’ Sam smiled, glad that he’d added extra to the tip when he’d taken the cart. 

Just as he toed off his shoes and got comfortable on the couch, Mercedes came back into the room. She had changed out of her dress and shaper slip, but left on the dramatic black lace lingerie. Over that she drew on an ankle length, well loved, cotton maxi dress in a shade of fuchsia softened by time. Sam bit back a moan. The dress had a very deep v and spaghetti straps that seemed designed to draw the eye to the wider lacy black straps they were laying on. “You looked so beautiful in that designer number earlier, but you look even more lovely like this.” 

Mercedes’ answering smile was bright and happy. She dropped into a little curtsey. “Why thank you kindly, Sir.” she joked as she joined him on the couch. 

After they found a movie to ‘watch’, Sam fixed them each two fingers of cognac in their sniffers. They cuddled up on the room’s wide, cushy and deep set sectional. “So what do you want to do tomorrow?” whispered his mouth near her ear as she reclined against his chest. 

“I’d kind of like to see the 9/11 Memorial. I haven’t had a free day in New York since I was here for the National Show Choir competition my junior year of high school.” 

“That was when you guys came in twelfth?” he asked quietly. 

She nodded. “If Rachel and Finn hadn’t gotten all ‘inappropriate’, we might have made the top ten. But that’s fine we took the whole thing the next year, without Rachel, without Mr. Schue…we actually left a few people behind. I would have felt bad about that, but Shelby offered them spots in our choir, they chose not to join. Kurt was one of them…but eventually he saw the error of his ways.” 

“Puck said that you guys had a lot of drama in high school.” Sam joked tracing his fingers lightly up her arms bringing goosebumps up in his wake, “So, kind of drifting back to our conversation from dinner…what kind of engagement length do you feel you would want? Long…or Short?” he asked hopefully.   
Mercedes laughed. “Unfortunately it’s gotta be at least long enough for my mother to plan an engagement ball. I promised her that if I ever got engaged, I’d let her throw me one since I backed out of the whole Debut Ball when I was sixteen.”

“Something tells me there is a story behind that. You gonna share?” Sam prodded.

“You know about Beth right?” she asked suddenly.

“Oh, yeah. Puck’s baby girl has his heart. She is so sassy. If she were a little bit older, we’d have her and Stevie betrothed or something.” 

Mercedes laughed. “That’s my Beth…my Goddaughter. Shelby made it official and everything.” She smiled. “Anyway, The Fabrays and my parents belong to the same country club. Quinn, Beth’s biological mother, and I were the same age meaning that we’d have been in the same Debutant class. By the time it was time to start doing all that crap, her parents had kicked her out and she was living with us. I thought that it would be like I was rubbing her face in the fact that I could still do that kind of thing…something I wasn’t even into anyway…while she couldn’t. So Mom and I talked about it and since I was doing it to help a friend, she let me out of the whole debutant thing…but I had to promise her the engagement ball in exchange.”

“Well you can’t break a promise to your momma… So how long would it take to plan something like that?”

Mercedes shrugged. “I don’t know…a month or two at least.”

Sam just nodded. “I wanna take you home with me. Let you meet my family. I should meet yours too.” He blurted out. 

Mercedes blushed, almost visibly, “Umm…it would need to be soon. I have a tour starting August. North America until November, then international starting after New Years.”

“So, what I’m hearing is that we should go ahead and meet each other’s families and then get officially engaged sooner rather than later. That way your mom can do our Ball thingy while you’re still stateside and we can get married when you get back from your tour. Because all my tour dates are in the US. I’m not scheduled to do another world tour for at least two years.” 

She whipped around in his arms. “You’ve got our whole future planned out, huh?” she said huffily. 

Sam was calm something told him that the best way to handle the current storm was with steadfast logic. “You love me, right.” She nodded. “I love you.” Again she nodded. “We’re getting engaged, right?” She nodded slowly. “Yes, we’re getting engaged.” He said definitively. “After that comes marriage…not forever after either we are not Bradgelina.” That brought a smile to her face as she nodded again. “Before we can get engaged we have to meet each other’s families or our lives wouldn’t be worth a plugged nickel, right.”

“You ain’t ever lied.” Mercedes agreed. 

“So what on God’s good green earth would we drag our feet for?”

“What are people gonna say?” she whispered. 

Sam shrugged. “My parents were married the same weekend they met and I popped out forty weeks later like clockwork. They have been together for longer than a whole lot of their college friends. People who met, dated for three years, got engaged, were engaged for one to two years then got married…and divorced because they ‘outgrew each other’ or ‘fell out of love’. I love you and I want you to be legally mine in front of God and everybody. I don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone not our family says, thinks, tweets, snapchats, instagrams…what the f ever.” His voice never rose, but it got more and more intense as he spoke of their love. 

She looked thoughtful. “I want to immediately say ‘yeah f them all’ but Sam, you know that this industry isn’t kind to women. Do you know how many people keep trying to cast me as the new Nikki Minaj just because of my shape?” 

“Then they are idiots, your breasts and ass are clearly real and you are damn sure a hell of a lot sexier.” Sam defended staunchly. 

“I know Baby…but the industry will assume that I’m pregnant or that I did something to trap you. They won’t be as bad to you…but you know they will talk shit about you too.” She sighed. 

Sam chuckled. “I give absolutely no fucks. Yes. They will talk. Some people will say we won’t last as long as a Kardashian marriage…but we’re gonna last the test of time. They will claim that you got knocked up to trap me…but when you’re clearly not pregnant even a year later, they will shut up because they are gonna look stupid. People are always gonna talk. But the only way their words have power is if you allow them to stop you from doing what you know is right for you.” 

“Okay, so tomorrow, when Puck finally lets Santana out of his bed, we’ll go over our schedules and see when we can get worked out to meet our families and to have them meet each other.” she finally ceded.   
A big, bright, beautiful smile crossed Sam’s face. He’d been worried that she would throw up another roadblock. He’d wondered if her insecurities or worries about what the world would have to say about their relationship would make her doubt his motivations. He was relieved to see that she was already secure enough in his love not to throw up that hurdle. Now Sam was nobody’s fool. He knew that things had progressed very fast between the two of them. He knew that there would be problems that they would have to fix, obstacles in their path. But he was very much sure that together they could conquer anything.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)  
> 
> 
> WARNING: Possible offensive reference to Transgender Person...My Friend who transitioned (the basis of the character) found it hilarious. Still better safe than flamed.

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 7

Sam Evans Residence  
Friday, March 6th, 2020  
Nashville, TN 

Sam Evans was pacing nervously. His bags were packed; he wasn’t getting picked up to head to the airport for another hour at least. He probably should have been having lunch but his stomach was too filled with nervous energy to even contemplate the idea of food. As he walked back and forth across the hard wood floors of his living room, he was frantically rereading every email and text message he and Mercedes had exchanged. He’d started just looking back over the ones after their surprise Valentine’s weekend in New York. His intention, to make sure that he could remember everything she had told him about her family. Father, Alfred Demetrius Jones, DDS born in Chicago Illinois, raised in Canton Ohio age fifty six years old…dentist for almost thirty years. Graduate of University of Michigan at Ann Arbor undergrad and dental school. Married to Constance Blanche DuBois-Jones, DMD for the last thirty two years. Connie DuBois was born and raised in Baton Rouge Louisiana, a member of a family pretty much considered southern black royalty since before the Civil War. The DuBois had never been slaves. The family’s ancestors had come from France as free men before the Louisiana Purchase They had been business owners, lawyers and preachers for generations. She’d graduated Tulane University before going on to U of M at Ann Arbor for dental school where she and Alfred had met and fallen in love. Alfred Jones has eleven various siblings and his father, Gerard Jones, was still living though his mother, Nadine, had passed away before Mercedes graduated college. Connie Jones has one older brother, Brandon and both her mother, Mere-Ophelia, and her father, Kenneth, were alive and living in New Orleans. Mercedes herself has one older brother Montravious Jackson Jones, MD…cardiatric surgeon in the city of brotherly love…not married but dating a program manager of a nonprofit that assists people who have debilitating injuries or illnesses. 

However, rereading the texts and emails just drew his mind to the three weeks since Valentine’s day. The two groups of friends had really enjoyed their time in Manhattan. While both Sam and Mercedes had been recognized and asked for pics or autographs a few times as they made their way around the city, the group had managed to hit both the National 9/11 Memorial as well as the Museum of Modern Art and shopping at a few places that appealed to everyone. The groups were overjoyed to see how much Sam and Mercedes actually had in common, though neither music artist had told them of the agreement they had reached. But once they sat down to dinner in Oiji, a Korean restaurant on the outskirts of the East Village, they knew that it was time to pull up schedules and try to take their plan one step closer to reality. 

Before they could really get started, Sam’s cell vibrated harshly against his leg. Answering it, he was surprised to hear Simon’s distinctive voice. “Who is your absolutely favorite manager in the history of the word?”

“Since you’re my only manager…I’ll go with you. Now why don’t you explain to me why you’re fishing for complements?” Sam shook his head rolling his eyes. 

“Because not only have I arranged you interviews on the Ellen DeGeneres show, but also The Talk, Conan O’Brien and Queen Latifah starting Monday and putting you in LA for the whole work.” Simon told him proudly. “I had to push back your studio time until next week, but I thought you might want to spend some time with your new girlfriend. By the way, saw it on People Online, that’s a nice necklace you got her. Tiffany’s has already called to offer you a big discount on your next purchase since accidentally you gave them a ton of free advertising.” 

The waiter approached the heavy wooden table and Sam put the phone down just long enough to ask that they bring out all the dishes on the menu served family style if at all possible. Putting it back to his ear he realized that Simon had never stopped talking. “So your new flight leaves tomorrow afternoon at three and arrives in LA at five local time. I made arrangements for you three to stay at the Montage again. Trigger wants to know if you need him to go out there too because if not, he’s gonna stick close to home. His date last night apparently went so well he is calling it stellar.”

“Yeah, let him stay in Nashville…Puck and Slick have my back. Is Pamela gonna fly out though. I mean, I can’t do three talk shows without a stylist…unless Kurt is comfortable helping me out and Mercy doesn’t mind me borrowing his services.” Sam teased those at the table with his side of the conversation. 

In his chrome and leather office Simon rolled his eyes. “Pamela is still mad that he wasn’t able to go on the last trip. He has completely cleared his calendar to go with you this week.”

“HER…Simon. Pamela is female and therefore SHE is to be referred to by female pronouns remember.” Sam stressed loudly. 

Simon groaned miserably. “Pamela parents actually named him Palmer. I don’t have a problem with him wanting to be a her, hell, when she finally gets it lopped off…then I will call her a her. But call me crazy and insensitive all you like, but I cannot call anyone with a dick twice the size of mine she.”  
Shaking his head again at Simon’s stubbornness, Sam muttered, “Ain’t that hard to have more dick than you Simon…you just make up for it by having titanium balls.”

“Whatever, anyway, SHE will be there probably before you. Since SHE is packing for you, you won’t get any say in what you wear.” Simon snarked. 

“When is the last time I got to have any say in what I wore on an appearance?” Sam shot back. “Anyway, we sat down to eat when you called. Send me the itinerary and we’ll be good.” He signed off. “Looks like you ain’t getting rid of me yet Darlin’.” 

“Well considering that when I walked into the living room last night you had a double hand full of her tatas, you’d betta be in this for the long haul…Santana ain’t the only one who knows how to cut a pendajo.” Deja teased sternly. 

Everyone at the table chuckled while Sam smile-pouted. “I wasn’t goin’ any further.” He defended. Not saying that the makeup and hair artist should be really glad she walked in when she did. Ten minutes earlier and Sam had slipped the straps off Mercedes shoulders and was pressing nipping little kisses to the upper swells of her beautiful breasts. Apparently Puck and Santana didn’t believe him any more than Deja herself did because all three of them shot him total ‘judging you’ looks. “I wasn’t. I respect my Mercy too much to push her any further than she wants to go.” 

Santana laughed. “Trouty please. Cedes has no clue how much further she wants to go than she thinks she wants to go.” She paused for a second as if she realized the sentence made no sense, yet too stubborn to go back and try to explain what she meant. “In the decade me and Cedes have been friendly, you’re the only one she’s ever wanted to experiment with. Test the boundaries. Granted if you go too far trust and believe that I will cut your dick off and shove it up your ass so far you will technically be giving yourself a blow job…but, good God man, at least get into the over the shoulder boulder holder.” 

“Okay, that was confusing. Wasn’t that confusing? Really good, not vague at all in terms of the threat, but how on earth do I push her boundaries all while I’m making sure that I don’t push too far.” Sam groaned. 

“It’s like porn…you’ll know it when you see it.” Puck shrugged. 

Both Kurt and Santana popped him on the arms. “Look Sam, it’s not that complicated. Just keep her panties on and in place, you keep your boxer briefs on with the flap securely closed and you stop if she says no or stop…that should allow you to be able to push the envelope without doing anything to force Santana and I to have to kill you, donate your organs to those in need and dispose of the rest of your body in a manner that is not traceable back to us.” Kurt told him calmly. Sam and Puck exchanged looks, neither of them sure what to say to that. “Oh, Noah, don’t look so confused, you’re on your last shot with Tana too. I know that your hearts weren’t engaged back at McKinley, but something tells me that isn’t the case this time. So just know that if you cheat on her this time around, Deja and I will make you pay, even if we have to go behind Mercedes’ oh so soft hearted back to do so.” 

Before Slick could decide if should be relieved or saddened that he’d beaten the odds, Mercedes gave him a sweet smile. “We’ll treat you to your own shovel talk once you’ve made it past all Kurt’s hurdles. They are any and varied, but we tend to believe that he is worth it in the end. But we did learn a long time ago that if we give the speech too early, Kurt is a lot harder on them.” she told him honestly. 

The waiter arrived with a tray of soju, a sweet potato liquor, persimmon wine with enough glasses for the ladies and Taedonggang a North Korean beer resembling ale for the men. He was followed quickly by several other members of the restaurant’s wait staff bringing plates, silverware and chopsticks. They set the table for the large party in the style of family dining. They also had platters and bowls of the restaurant’s signature appetizers; homemade tofu with scallion soy vinaigrette, wild sesame soup with oyster mushroom and truffle, Pig's trotter salad with spicy lemon vinaigrette, beef tartare with ramp aioli, Chil-Jeal-Pan seven flavors, fried chicken with spicy soy vinaigrette, cold buckwheat noodle with preserved spring ramps, Jang-Jo-Rim with buttered rice and soft boiled eggs. Once they were once again alone, the group chatted discussing Sam’s small little press junket and how they would work Mercedes’ own schedule of post Grammy interviews around it. Thankfully they weren’t actually on the same shows at the same time, though they would be doing The Talk on consecutive days. The interviews would probably all center around two things their wins and their relationship. But that had been true of the interviews that previous week as well. The group laughed and joked and teased each other even as they managed to hammer out good times for visits to Sam and Mercedes hometowns. The wily stars couched it in terms of getting to know each other better, but they knew the real reason.

When the waiter returned, he came baring large bowls and platters of side dishes; assorted kimchi, white and brown rice, lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice and honey butter chips. The entrees followed; pine leaves smoked mackerel with citrus soy, Gochujang braised chicken with winter vegetables, truffle seafood broth with sizzling crispy rice, NY strip steak and cauliflower kimchi, slow cooked pork belly and kimchi, slow cooked oxtail with root vegetables, and ssam platter with spicy pork and gang-deon-jang. There was more than enough food for all of them and everyone tried each and every entrée. By the time they walked out they were stuffed to the gills. Sam had caught the bill so Mercedes forced him to accept her desire to leave the tip. Rather than leaving just the required fifteen percent, which would have been over the one they added to the tab since their party was so large, she left a tip pretty much equal to the total bill. 

Walking back to the hotel, they decided that they weren’t ready to part. Sam, Puck and Slick retreated to their rooms to change into comfy, lounging clothes, and the girls and Kurt did the same thing in their suite. When the guys got there Mercedes, Kurt and Santana were arguing bad rom coms versus bad action movies for which one would provide the most picking and teasing material. Thankfully Deja heard their knock and let them in despite the rising volume of the old friends’ voices. Puck rolled into the lounge leaving Sam and Slick trying to decide if they were brave enough to try and intercede in the battle. “Yo, Tana, Sexy Mama, Hummel…tap out. Rather than watching something designed to show Slick and Sam how witty and catty you can be, let’s just watch something FUN.” He grabbed the remote out of Santana’s shockingly loose grip and dropped onto the couch to channel surf until he found something that would satisfy them all. “Marvel Cinematic Universe marathon good for y’all?” he asked as Sam and Slick finally braved the room. 

“Oooh where is it at?” Sam asked happily. He pulled Mercedes up off the couch, sat down with his back against the arm threw a leg up…missing the top of a surprised Kurt’s head by several inches. He pulled Mercedes into the gap between his thighs, happy to see that while the lounging dress was blue instead of fuchsia, it was still the same maxi-style and the worn cotton was just as soft as the one she’d worn the night before. He nuzzled his nose into her neck drawing her scent into his very pores before pressing a quick kiss to her shoulder. 

The group had lucked out they had missed the earlier movies and come in right at the beginning of the first Avengers. That stroke of luck meant less of the girls arguing over the hotness of the film’s main hero. Santana was a Stark girl all the way. Mercedes preferred Thor with Captain America running a very close second. Kurt had a thing for Hawkeye and Deja loved her some Bruce. The girls confessed their movie crushes inadvertently in front of their new friends. Slick found it hilarious. “Okay, so Mercedes likes the big, built towheaded guys with old school manners and mannerisms…Santana likes the dark haired bad boy, Kurt likes the darker, talented, athletic type…deep dark backstory required and Deja…what is that the conflicted smarty arty type? We’ll have to find you one of those.” 

The room got quiet for a long moment as they all realized that Slick had basically told them all about themselves. Sam was the first one to start to laugh. The rest fell into laughter like dominos. The laughter and comfort of being with friends and loved ones did stop until Sam, Slick, Puck and Sam’s stylist Pamela boarded a plane at LAX bound for Nashville.

In his living room three weeks and twenty five hundred miles from that hotel room, Sam had to admit that the reminiscing had calmed his nerves and brought his happy back. Before he knew it Puck was letting himself into the front door. “Bring your ass, Sam. Dr. Jones is a stickler for punctuality. Missing our flight is not how we want to start off the weekend.” He taunted. 

Sam tried to keep to the same line of bull he and Mercedes had been slinging since New York. “What are you talking about? We’re going to Lima so Mercedes can show me her old stomping grounds.” 

Puck rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and that’s why you’ve been trolling jewelry store websites and have Pamela looking for a vintage DeBeers ring from ten years ago.” 

“How did you know about that? Pam promised that she wouldn’t tell a soul.” Sam groaned. 

“Pam didn’t tell a soul, but you know she talks to herself when she gets stressed and apparently negotiating with the Seattle jewelry store owner who has the ring you want is stressin’ her out big time. When I got the her office this morning to get your suit; not meeting the parents my ass, you wouldn’t want your good impressions suit if you weren’t; any way, she was cussing that guy out in more languages than I could keep track of. I will say I really hope that he doesn’t actually know Farsi or you ain’t ever getting that thing.” Puck laughed. 

“Son of a bitch.” Sam muttered. “Look, Mercy is all kinds of conflicted about y’all knowing how fast we’re rolling on this relationship train, so please…don’t pick on her.” 

“Naw man, me and Santana and Kurt are pretty damn happy for you two…plus this gets all three of us an all-expenses paid trip home. Not a bad deal. Tana did say that Deja was mad at getting left behind in LA though.” 

“Why are they leaving her behind?” Sam was way curious.

Puck shrugged. “It’s not really anything for her to do there…and Limans aren’t the most sensitive people on earth. I can just see someone rolling up on her to ask her if she is a dude or a chick and her ending up getting arrested for slapping the taste out of their mouth. Especially since she really is a chick and always has been.” Over the course of the weeks since the Grammys, Sam and Puck had learned that Deja had had a double complete mastectomy after losing her mother and two of her sisters to aggressive, virulent forms of heredity breast cancer. The bold, brassy ‘sista’ had decided not to bother getting implants since they carried their own set of health risk, though it was a significantly smaller risk than it used to be. Besides according to their new friend, she’d not been French Kissed by the puberty fairy like Mercedes had anyway. “So Mercedes told her to start working on new hair and makeup designs for her fall tour dates.” 

Sam nodded and picked up his bag and his guitar case. He hadn’t been back to Lima in years, so he was actually kind of anxious to see what had changed and what remained the same. Their flight was fairly on time and Sam got to his hotel with plenty of time to get cleaned up and changed. As soon as he dropped his boss off, Puck had headed to the house he grew up in to visit his mother and little sister. When he pulled into the yard he noticed that the house needed painting and he resolved to hire someone to do the job before he headed back down to Nashville. Since she had advanced warning his mom had prepared all of Puck’s favorites for dinner. As he kissed his mom and hugged his little sister, Puck could only shake his head as he realized that there was something missing. When he realized that the missing piece keeping his night from being totally perfect was Santana, Puck cursed under his breath. He really had fallen in love with the girl most likely to break his heart and laugh merrily at his pain while doing so. 

 

The Jones Family Residence  
Friday, March 6th, 2020  
622 Mulholland Dr  
Lima, OH 

Constance DuBois Jones was no fool. She watched and read anything that the press and paparazzi published about her daughter. She’d seen the way that country singer looked at her little girl. He was completely enraptured with Mercedes. Since he was southern, Connie hadn’t even had to hire a private investigator to find out more about him. While the bulk of his family was from Tennessee, he had relatives in both Alabama and Mississippi. Connie could tell you what hospital he was born in before the photogs had broken the news that he flew to Manhattan to spend Valentine’s Day with Mercedes. By the time the ever increasing group had flown to LA, Constance knew the names of seven generations of Sam’s direct ancestors and what she found out about them was very comforting for the mother of the world’s newest R&B diva. Evans men never strayed and their marriages lasted until the death of both participants, they didn’t even remarry after being widowed…such was their commitment to the love they shared with their spouses. It even held true for the gay members of the clan.

The more her cousins and old friends told her about the family the more settled her heart was. Because she hadn’t just seen the love in Sam’s eyes, she’d seen it in Mercedes as well. With a mother’s intuition, she quickly and surreptitiously started to plan the engagement ball of the century. Of course, she stopped trying to hide her work at all when her daughter called and told them that she was coming home for a quick weekend visit and there was someone she wanted them to meet. After she shared the news with her husband, Alfred looked at her and smirked. “What does the DuBois hotline have to say about this kid?” 

Connie smiled at how well her husband knew her. “Apparently, Samuel Evans comes from a long line of marriages untainted by either divorce or infidelity. His own parents have been married just long enough for him to be completely legitimate, but they’d only known each other a few days when they said their I dos. He has some second and third cousins in Alabama and Mississippi, but family all throughout the south. He’s been willing to help their kids and even some of them, but they all know that going to him is a once and done kind of deal. College tuition seems to be his big assistance thing. Not surprising since he had to drop out when he messed up his shoulder and lost his football scholarship.”

Alfred nodded. “So are we behind this relationship or should I bust his chops so bad he runs for the hills?” 

“Darlin’ you could bust that boy’s chops ‘til The Rapture, he ain’t going anywhere without our little girl with him. And really the only thing you’ll accomplish is getting Mercedes dander up…and you know how unhappy we all are when she is angry at us.” Connie told her husband honestly. “She loves him Alfred. I have hoped and I have prayed and I have begged the Lord to let my daughter know the strength of love that he has blessed us with. I’m not gonna turn away the answer to those prayers because his skin color isn’t the same as ours.” 

Alfred laughed at the look on his wife’s face. She wouldn’t turn away God’s blessing, but she sure would have preferred it if Sam had been black. The DuBois hadn’t married a white person in more generations than anyone could count. Granted for most of those generations it had been a safety concern, but the last several it had been out of pure dee spite. That whole family could hold their grudges like it was an Olympic sport, not dating white people had just been their way of still being mad about the years when the rednecks and slack jawed yokels had felt that the DuBois were beneath them because they were black. “Mercy’s babies will have plenty of biracial, and quite a few multiracial, cousins on my side of the family, so you know I don’t care about that. I just want to make sure that when I walk my baby down the aisle, the man whose hand I’m placing hers in is worthy.”

Constance nodded at her husband. “I think this one is.” She said simply. “So how do you know I didn’t just research him online or something? What made you think I asked around?” 

“Sweetie, you know as well as I do that good PR people can hide a multitude of sins. No one has yet to ask Mercy about the tater tots in the cheerleading coach’s tailpipe.” 

“That witch totally deserved it. Taking away the only think my Baby liked to eat at that whole stupid school.” Connie groused. 

Her husband shook his head, it had been years…Mercedes and Sue Sylvester had long since buried the hatchet…but his wife still wouldn’t piss on the poor woman if she were on fire. “So, I suppose you’re already working on the Engagement Party?” he elected to take one for the team and put his wife back into a good mood. 

By the time Mercedes arrived early Friday morning, Constance had the party planned down to the last detail. She even had four dresses for Mercedes to pick from for the cocktail hour and three for the ‘main’ ball gown. She knew that the likelihood of Mercedes allowing a costume change was slim to none, but it would be spectacular if she did. As soon as Mercedes walked into the door of the rather stately six bedroom five bathroom home she’d grown up in, Connie had her wrapped tight in a hug few would realize that the tiny woman could give. “Mom.” Mercedes breathed in the comforting smell of rosewater, sandalwood and the indefinable scent that belonged to her mother. Once she was satisfied that her baby was whole, healthy and strong, Connie pulled back and looked behind her. “Where is this person you wanted us to meet?” 

“He’ll be meeting us for dinner tonight. I wanted some time just the three of us.” Mercedes told her mother with a little eye roll. “When is the last time you talked to your son?” 

“Good lord, are you and your brother still arguing. It’s been over a month since the Grammys.” Connie chuckled. 

Mercedes rolled her eyes as she and her mother headed into the house. “He is being completely unreasonable. It wasn’t my fault that he never told Melissa that I was me. Besides he already replaced her with a date he only got because I said his name in my acceptance speech. But he is still complaining about every one being in his business now that they know about us being siblings. Like he’s never told anybody to buzz off if they were working his nerves.”

“Mercy, Trey has always valued his privacy. I know that you think he hides you because he is ashamed of you, but I think that he hates having to share you with the world. With the path you have chosen he can’t protect his baby sister any longer. It bothers him. Besides, you know that boy can hold a grudge like no body’s business…he gets that from your father.” Constance whispered to her daughter as if they were co-conspirators. 

However, while she knew better, Mercedes also knew that arguing with her mother as to which side of the family was slow to anger and never forgave and which side was quick to anger and quick to forgive was the ultimate waste of time. Instead she turned the conversation to safer topics. “So what time will Dad get home from the office today?” 

The Doctors Jones had been closing their office early on Fridays and Saturdays for as long as Mercedes could remember. The fact that they had weekend office hours at all set them apart from the other dentists in the Greater Lima area, and had proven quite lucrative for them. “He has an appointment at eleven, but he should be home in time for us to have a nice lunch together. But until then, why don’t you tell me all about the young man you’ve been all over the news with?” 

Mercedes chuckled, her mother wasn’t slick and Mercedes would have bet one of her brand new, hasn’t even been delivered yet Grammys that her mother knew almost as much about Sam as she did. Still Mercedes shared with her mother everything she knew, holding back those things Sam had told her in confidence and that information that while pertinent to Mercedes really wasn’t any of her mother’s business. “Mom, I have never felt this way about any other guy I’ve even known let alone dated. It’s like God took the best parts of Dad and Puck and Finn and Artie and Mike, all the guys in my life I truly admire, and plucked it all together into one very pleasing package and put him here on this earth just for me.” at a look of censure from her mother Mercedes continued defiantly, “maybe there are some Trey like traits in there too. But I refuse to acknowledge them until Montravious apologizes for jumping down my throat for the thanking him thing.” 

Connie shook her head and decided that discretion was the better part of valor in that one, solitary instance. “So…does this mean that I should begin preliminary planning of your engagement gala?” 

“Mother!” Mercedes groaned playfully. “We aren’t there quite yet.” She prevaricated. “But if you had to do that whole planning thing in a time crunch…how long would it take you to plan something that would make you happy and fulfill my promise?” 

Deciding that a humble brag was definitely in order, Constance looked thoughtful for a long while. “I suppose I could throw something together with a six to eight weeks’ head start, less time if the party would be during off peak dates.” She didn’t tell her daughter that it was completely planned needing only the date. While she would prefer the gala to take place on her home turf, as it were, she had several favors she could call in at different locations all around the United States. No matter what date Mercedes and Sam set for her, she already had a contingency in place to meet the need. 

Mercedes nodded. “So if we come to you later this month or next month…you’d just plan it out, you wouldn’t get upset that we’re moving too fast?” 

Connie took her daughter’s hand. “Baby, I have always raised you to be strong and to know your own mind. I know that you’ve taken this decision to the Lord and asked him if Sam Evans is the man he wants you to marry. If you know in your heart of hearts that Sam Evans is that man…then you cannot let anyone, not man, not paparazzi, not ratchet heifers or supposed journalists come between the two of you. The scripture tells us that what God has for you none can take from you. Just remember that, it certainly doesn’t say that what God has for you, you must wait a certain, societally approved amount of time to accept. You have two people to please in this world…you and God…then you need to please me or your life just won’t be worth the living.” She finished teasingly.

Mercedes allowed her mother to envelop her in a tight, but comfortable hug. “Thanks Momma.” She whispered. They spent the rest of their morning talking and catching up. Constance told Mercedes how very proud she was of her and they bonded listening to music. Mercedes never even noticed that among the casual conversation, her mother was picking her brain on important details that would be integral to planning both the engagement gala and the wedding. When Alfred Jones got home, the hug he gave his daughter was long and seemed to revitalize the dentist who’d performed two extractions and a root canal in the four hours their office had been opened. The family talked and just relaxed until Mercedes got a text from Sam letting her know that he had arrived safely in her home town. Immediately she started to rush them to get ready. 

Lima didn’t really have a restaurant of the caliber that was available in LA or Manhattan, but what they may have lacked in white tablecloth service, the Lima restaurants made up in taste and proportions. Rather than try for fancy, Mercedes and Sam had agreed to have the meet and greet at the Lima Bean and move on from there. Since she was free from photogs and paparazzi, Mercedes reveled in being able to dress normally. After a long hot shower and lotioning her body from top to bottom, she threw on a pair of leggings, a deep purple tunic top, and a pair of cute little fur lined boots. She eschewed all makeup, only rubbing on a little lip gloss and the only jewelry she bothered with was the necklace Sam had given to her for the preceding holiday. 

Sam, however, had originally donned the suit he’d brought with church in mind. Then he took that off, after telling himself that being that overdressed would make a worse first impression than dressing down a little bit. Instead he pulled on a pair of well-loved jeans, a green Henley and a flannel. He had spent so much time trying to decide on his clothing, he almost made himself late. Thankfully for him, Lima hadn’t changed very much in the time he’d been gone so he was able to get to the coffee shop quickly enough to recoup the lost time. As soon as he saw his beloved, he knew that he had made the right choice and every bit of nervousness that he’d been feeling evaporated like drizzle falling on a hot tin roof. Mercedes made the introductions Mom, Dad…allow me to introduce Sam Evans.” She said simply. 

“Sir, Ma’am, I’ve heard so much about you…it’s nice to meet you.” Sam said quietly. He was a little embarrassed by how thick his accent sounded. But nervousness always did that to him. “You have raised a truly amazing daughter.” He looked at Mercedes, his love for her shining in his eyes. “Thank you.” he immediately felt kind of stupid for adding that there at the end, but it had slipped out. 

Fortunately showing his soon to be in laws that little glimpse of himself did more than anything else to cement in their heads that he would make an acceptable son in law. Alfred evaluated his handshake. It was firm and dry. There weren’t a series of frenetic pumps, just a strong, assured shake fingers splayed a little too far the only hint to the nervousness the young man was feeling. “So Sam, tell me…what makes you think that you’re good enough for my daughter?” 

Sam looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a big rig. “Sir, I guess the truth is that I don’t think I’m good enough for Mercedes, but I love her so much I’m hoping that I can grow to be close to being as good as she already is.” 

Constance chuckled loudly, though the sound wasn’t at all mean or angry. “Sam, long time ago, I took that fool over there to meet my family. Daddy asked him that same question he just asked you. Alfred answered Daddy pretty much the same way that you just answered him. That was perfect.” She finished before dissolving even more fully into laughter. 

Alfred just shrugged. “She’s not lying. So I guess I’ll continue the tradition and repeat to you what her father said to me after I told him my feelings on the subject. My daughter is good condition when you two start dating…that’s true emotionally and physically…she better be in even better condition whenever she sees or speaks to us…and you never know when that’s gonna be.” 

The look in his eyes promised more retribution than Sam wanted to contemplate, so he simply nodded and murmured a quiet, but promise filled “Yes Sir.” 

By unspoken agreement, the four of them decided to continue the conversation over dinner, grabbed small coffees and started the arduous process of making four people agree on one place for dinner. Finally their cups were emptied and they rose and made their way to the only restaurant in Lima that could actually please all of them, Yamato Steakhouse. They drove in two separate cars, Mercedes using Sam’s short time living in Lima and the amount of time that had gone by since then as her excuse to ride with him. The laid back family restaurant was not very crowded since native Limans usually avoided the place due to rampant xenophobia, and the younger set had trouble affording the slightly steeper prices. They quickly ordered dinner and started the process of letting Alfred and Connie get to know Sam and get to know their daughter as part of an equal partnership type romantic couple. By the end of the evening, both parents were secure in the knowledge that the relationship was built on a very stable foundation. By the end of the weekend, Sam was part of the family. He’d sat with Alfred in the pews of the family church and fell in love with Mercedes all over again as she shared her testimony and her gift with the people who had known her for most of her life. By the time they met back up with their entourages at the Jones home after church, the duo was frantically looking forward to Mercedes time in Nashville. That feeling was only exacerbated when Pamela texted Sam with the information he would need to get the ring Mercedes longed for. Behind the backs of the loving young couple, Connie and Alfred promised both Puck and Santana the moon for helping Mercedes finally find the kind of love they had been blessed with. 

Saying goodbye at the airport was hard, but they knew that they would be seeing each other again in just a few days, so that mitigated the feelings of loneliness that could have tried to consume them. In fact if Mercedes weren’t in meetings all week in preparation for her upcoming tour, she’d have probably just flown directly to Nashville with Sam. If she had, perhaps she could have prevented what took place when Sam and Puck landed in BNA.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 8

 

Mercedes Jones Residence   
Monday, March16th, 2020   
La Habra Heights, CA

Mercedes could not believe her eyes. She blinked, flipped to another station, and there it was again; big and bold, as plain as day. Shane Tinsley rolled up to Sam and Puck at the baggage claim of Nashville International Airport. Words were exchanged. Then slightly heated words were exchanged. Then very heated words were exchanged. Then all of a sudden, Sam tossed Puck his guitar and made like Brad Pitt in Troy. Shane was considered one of the up and coming defensive linemen in the nation, he’d been a number two NFL draft pick. But there on every single morning news source, Sam Evans was taking him down and waling on him until airport security and several air marshals pulled him away, he had been arrested and booked on assault charges, but was already out on bail. Mercedes had been wiped out when she got home the night before so she hadn’t been concerned until she woke up that morning and saw that Sam hadn’t texted her to let her know that he’d arrived home safe and sound. She grabbed her phone and called Puck. 

“Cedes, he’s fine. He spent the whole time at the station signing autographs and talking to the cops like he was there on a community visit.” Puck assured her as soon as he pressed accept. 

“That’s all well and good but what the hell happened?” she almost shouted. 

Puck sighed. He’d been dreading this…to be honest if he could have, he’d have let Sam handle the explanation himself. But Sam had been in meetings with his PR team most of the morning and was, at that very moment, busy explaining everything to his parents which left it to Puck to explain to Mercedes. “I guess Shane was in the airport coming back from something when he spotted Sam. Sexy Mama, I swear, I thought he was coming up to us to talk to me…I mean we were team mates for two years him seeing me and stopping to say hello wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary. But no that muthafucker comes over and barely waves at my ass. Instead he starts talking to Sam about how the two of you used to date back in the day and how in love you were with him and all that noise. Sam took it like a champ. Saying that if you had deeper feelings for him back in the day, they were probably those of a child but you were now a grown woman and your love had matured too.” 

Mercedes smiled at hearing that but she did need to correct something, “I never once said that I loved that fool. I told him that he was a great friend and that I liked him…but it was never a love thing. We both knew it too.” 

Puck nodded though she couldn’t see him. “I know that. I mean we could all see that when he’d start on his coco babies bullshit you were completely zoned out. Hell, Girl-Asian said you were texting with her the whole time JewFro was harassing the two of you senior year. Anyway…Sam said that Santana had told him about Shane’s behavior when you were dating and he truly felt that Shane had allowed time to make more of the relationship you two had had ‘way back in the day’. So then Shane started talking out the side of his neck about shit we all know wasn’t true. So…Girl you would have been so proud of your boy…Sam looks at Shane and says and I quote, ‘I will thank you to keep your tongue behind your teeth if you don’t know how to tell the truth…especially when you’re lying about the woman I love’. Sam looked at Tinsley as if he were something to be scrapped off the bottom of his shoe. So Shane tried to laugh and say that you were lying when you told Sam about the whole being a virgin thing. I wanted to jump his ass for that bullshit. The last time you told a lie it was when you told Hummel that your date with Rashad had gone fine when you’d set his ass on fire with the candle on the table for talking to your tits the whole date. That’s when Sam made me promise not to let his guitar get stolen and to bail him out so he wouldn’t have to wake his parents…next thing I knew Sam was fucking that douche bag’s shit up.”

Mercedes sighed. She knew she shouldn’t be mad. She would have done the same thing if something similar had happened to her. Hell, if she had been the one to run into Shane and he tried to talk smack, she knew that she would have kicked Shane’s balls into his throat. She shouldn’t be mad, but she kind of was. Her PR people could have made Shane look like a disgrace. But now Sam was in the news and not in the normal, good guy way he usually was. Her parents were going to have a hissy fit. Or so she thought. Apparently some erstwhile passenger who was closer to the incident than the paparazzi had gotten the whole verbal exchange recorded on their phone. They sold the audio to NBC for a mint. The Today Show had the video and audio synced up and they played it for the world before they went off the air for the day. Puck had neglected to tell Mercedes that Sam had given Shane multiple chances to change his tune and to admit his bullshit and shut his mouth. Only when he got really offensive did Sam finally lose his shit and he had to knock the mother down and out. The fact that Shane had the gall to say ‘guess that’s what I get for trying to turn a ho into a housewife’, meant he needed to get his ass kicked. Some enterprising soul set the video to the old school Arrested Development song ‘Everyday People’ and it was trending all over the place. Both of her parents texted her to tell her that they agreed with Sam’s reaction and that it was just too bad he didn’t get to beat Shane longer. Of Course Alfred also lamented the fact that he couldn’t have been there “to kick that idiot’s ass and save Sam the trouble”. Social media was going ham. There were a lot of people who were on Sam’s side, but of those even many thought that Mercedes had to be lying to him about being virginal.

Toni called Mercedes not long after she hung up with Puck. “We’re, of course, being asked for your feelings on this…how do you want to proceed. We can get a statement out in about fifteen minutes telling everyone that you are not going to deign to give this your attention.” 

Usually that was how Mercedes dealt with speculation as to her romantic liaisons and love life. But this was not the normal type of stuff thrown her way. “No. Not this time. Get Manny on the phone. I want our response to come in the form of a lawsuit for defamation of character and slander. Shane is lying his ass off and I want the whole world to know it. He tried to make me look like a lying slut who is out to, what, trap Sam for a come up. I don’t need no damn come up I’m rising to the top all by my damn self. People think because I’m all about the music and try to avoid the drama that they can just roll all over me. Hell to the no. these fools are gone stop taking me as someone to play with. Ask Manny if he can get that shit filed today. The transcripts of the bullshit Shane was speaking about me are already up all over the web.”

Toni looked at her phone for a second. She was not expecting that at all. Mercedes was usually so above the drama. But the manager was all kinds of behind moving forward with the plan laid out by her client. “I will get him right on it.” She sent her firm’s attorney a message to get the paperwork into the courts by the end of the day. She had a contact within the court system that could be counted on to leak the litigation to the right people. Within minutes he’d returned that he would have the paperwork filed by lunchtime. “Manny has already begun the process. You concentrate on the meetings we have today, this morning with the accountant about the tour budget and this afternoon with the prospective new tour managers.” 

Mercedes agreed. She got off with Toni and realized that Sam was probably worried about her radio silence. She quickly sent him a text asking if he was okay and if there was anything he wanted or needed her to do. She did warn him that there would be news from her camp later that day or early the next. Sam called her back as she was getting out of the shower. “Darlin’, I’m sorry. I should have kept my temper.” He started as soon as she answered the phone. 

“No. I will be honest, my knee jerk response was to get mad because for a second I thought that you didn’t trust me or didn’t think I could take care of myself. But then I realized that I would straight up cut a bitch for coming out the side of her neck about you like that. It wasn’t a matter of trust or personal strength…it was a simple matter that since we love each other, we can’t stand and let someone disrespect our loved one the way Shane was disrespecting me.”

“Thank God.” Sam breathed. “Everyone in my camp except Puck has been jumping down my throat for this I was starting to think that he and my Dad were the only ones to get why I did what I did. I will take the charge. I have no problem with doing community service or whatever, but he was not gonna stand in my face and talk about you like that. Especially since he knew he was lying.”

Mercedes couldn’t hold back the smile that was trembling on her lips. For most of her life the only ones who had been willing to defend her, regardless of the consequences had been her parents and her big brother. It was startling and sweet to see Sam felt that strongly about her. Their relationship was so new that Sam could have easily doubted the veracity of her assertion, no one would have blamed him. But he knew her and he had faith in her and wouldn’t let anybody tell him different. In that instant, Mercedes knew as fully as humanly or divinely possible that Sam Evans truly loved her, completely and fully. Just as she did him. “Well, what do you need me to do for you? I haven’t made a formal statement, but I can if that’s gonna help you.”

Sam chuckled. “There is something about the way you said that that just made me a little bit scared for that asshat Tinsley. What are you planning to do?”

“Mr. Tinsley is going to find that what you did to him is the nicest thing that can happen to a man spewing lies like that. My lawyers are moving against him for defamation of character by slander. He should get served tomorrow or the next day.” Mercedes voice was coy and sly. 

The laughter that came from Sam told Mercedes more than anything else that he was certainly feeling better having talked to her. “Are you sure that you want to do that. If it goes to trial won’t they make you prove that he lied?” Sam asked when he finally calmed down. 

“They can ask all they want. I can provide affidavits from my gynecologist that I’m still freakin’ shrink wrapped.” She returned testily. “I have to see a special damn doctor out here because all the other ones wanted to do was break my hymen so they wouldn’t have to be so careful during exams. To me that is a very important little bit of skin, I had saved it for my husband and they all tried to take that gift away from you. Thankfully I found Dr. Koothrappali; given his religion and culture he understood why I wanted to preserve it.”

Sam hoped that Mercedes never found out the deeply visceral arousal that surged through him at that small bit of information. He knew that as an enlightened man of the twenty-first century, he should not feel the way he was feeling, but he simply had no control over it. It hit him hard and it hit him fast. Desire pounded in his veins almost knocking him to his knees. Finally he was able to get himself back under control and he tried to sound casual as he commented, “I guess I need to start studying up. Gotta figure out how to make love to you so that you will have the best possible first time…and every time after that too.” If his voice was deep and husky, hopefully she wouldn’t call him on it. Sam prayed to himself.

Mercedes heard the timbre of his voice, and much like her confession, it went to a very deep and primitive part of her eliciting the same response in her. “Okay, well in your spare time…you should definitely get on that.” 

“Oh no Darlin’, I’m thinking that that field of study should immediately become my primary focus. You deserve that kind of attention to detail.” Sam’s smile came across the distance. 

Mercedes laughed and prodded. “So you still think I’m worth the trouble?”

“Darlin’ you are worth everything.” Sam spoke honestly and from the heart. 

Mercedes chuckled. “Thank you Sam. I feel the same way about you. So…I’d better go. I need to put on Professional Mercedes Jones by ten thirty. Sometimes I feel like a Barbie doll.” 

“Oh, you know that you love it.” Sam teased. 

“I guess I kind of do.” Mercedes admitted with a giggle. “So I’ll see you Friday.” 

“Yup. You sure that you guys are still good with staying in my guest rooms, right?” suddenly shy, Sam hoped that that didn’t come across in his voice.

“Maybe we should get hotel rooms. I don’t want to do anything to mess you over all things considering.” Mercedes gave him the out. She wasn’t sure how her staying over for a weekend would impact his legal drama. 

“Nope…you guys are staying with me…well I guess I can see if you guys can stay at the homestead, but Stevie and Stacey will drive you batshit crazy in less than twenty minutes and I want you to still love me even after you’ve met my family.” Sam teased with a big smile. “Besides, you got lucky last weekend. We didn’t have enough time to ourselves to explore your boundaries.” 

Mercedes giggled as they exchanged their ‘I love you’s and goodbyes. She resumed getting dressed for the day and decided that a day that started off with that much drama deserved the full on Annalise Keating. She donned melon colored lace lingerie before wiggling into her least favorite and most restrictive shaper slip. The double crepe Armani Collezioni pencil skirt in a shade of deep, almost charcoal, gray was next. The suit was usually expected to be paired with a geometric georgette tank, but Mercedes wasn’t feeling it that day. Instead she went with a dove gray, structured and tailored within an inch of her life dress shirt. It made the suit far more severe. She augmented that look with perfectly correct daytime makeup in an array of neutral tones and with the only pop of color being a deep, rich brick red lipstain. Her hair was pulled back into a neat chignon before she looked through her closet. Simple diamond stud earrings, and the infinity necklace were joined by a deceptively simple Movado 'Rondiro' diamond accent bangle watch that had been a gift from her mother when she got her record deal, and an adorable onyx and silver ring to make sure that she looked like understated elegance. She quickly found the perfect shoes, a pair of four and half inch, patent leather, black, open toed, red bottomed sling backs that looked as amazing on her feet as they always ended up paining her at the end of the day. She loaded her fire engine red Louboutin Passages tote with her wallet, her iPad, personal and professional phones, keys and her makeup and hygiene needs. 

She really wished that Santana were available to accompany her. But the Latina had classes Monday through Thursday. And while she had permission from her professors to miss classes for important things that would teach her more about her chosen field than time in the classroom could, she tried very hard not to take advantage of them. Mercedes straightened her shoulders and pulled on the perfectly tailored layered peplum suit jacket that matched the skirt precisely. She checked herself over one last time and decided she conveyed exactly the right look for the day and made her way to the garage. Technically Mercedes owned two cars. One a mid-sized SUV that suited her needs well and had been her high school graduation gift from her father. The other was a sleek and stylish, tornado grey, fully loaded Audi A6. Santana had the Moreno, which was always parked in the driveway, so Mercedes got into the Audi and opened the garage door. 

Driving in LA was not for the weak of heart and that day was no different. Her meetings were a lot more tedious than she had expected, which was saying something since she‘d pretty much expected to have a hard time getting Nicola, her accountant, to concentrate. Thankfully AEG had already released their portion of the funds they were contributing as had the label. Mercedes was left footing the bill for the rest. She was very careful with her money and was known to say that people coming to her tour dates were there to hear her voice, not to watch an entire retinue of dancers…though she did have six dancers and four background singers as well as a full band. Her shows were legendary for being all about the music. There was great stage design and amazing outfits, but she tended to spend about half what her contemporaries spent and made three times as much money. She was determined to continue the trend with her first, full on, world tour. Nicola only had to be directed back to the matter at hand three times, though the brassy accountant was digging for all the information she could get on Sam Evans and Shane Tinsley and the whole sordid tale. 

The afternoon meetings went even better…sarcasm intended. Manny was worth his weight in gold and he’d had the lawsuit filed and the service in process before they got out of the meeting with Nicola. Toni and Mercedes were having lunch at Mr. C in the Mr. C. Hotel when the news of the legal action broke. They finished up and managed to get to the AEG LA offices where the interviews were set to take place before the paparazzi could converge on their location. However, all the AEG reps wanted to discuss for the ‘small talk’ was Mercedes’ legal standing for the suit. Since she wasn’t about to tell them all her business, it became a pain in the ass to deal with. Finally Toni got pissed on her behalf. “We’re here to do a job. If you would like to speculate on my client’s love life, feel free to do that on your own time…but make sure that what you say is true, relevant and not recorded on any form of media.” Once she had them quiet she pressed on. “Now, we are looking for someone calm, organized, efficient and who has the ability to roll with the punches and accept several different strong personalities. Someone who’s not looking for a come up is appreciated, but not necessarily needed.” 

It took fourteen interviews, but they found three people who met all the needed qualifications and personality requirements. They would be called in on Friday to meet with the full Mercedes Jones experience; her, Santana, Kurt, Deja, Tank, Toni, Mike…her choreographer… Fletcher…her set designer and Chip…the head builder… the tour manager would need to be able to get along with all of them.   
Tuesday was another busy day for Mercedes in that she, Kurt and Deja had to meet to finalize several awards show outfits and overall looks. It was a blast but it was still time consuming. Once Santana joined them, they all went and got mani-pedis in preparation for the weekend away. Then in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, they went out and had appletinis and ended up drunk dialing both Sam and Puck. Since they would be working on both Thursday and Friday, and Mercedes and Kurt…lightweights that they were…were both very, very hung over, Wednesday was spent on crazy normal things like laundry, cleaning the house and packing for their coming visit to Nashville. The next two days flew by in a flurry of classes and research and ‘homework’ for Santana, meetings and preliminary choreography work for Mercedes and designing for Kurt and Deja. Friday they spent six hours at the AEG offices meeting with the possible tour managers and selecting one to make the offer to. Mercedes left the formal offer making to Toni and they headed to the airport. Tank was going with them on the trip simply because the paparazzi had lost their collective shit and were following Mercedes everywhere they could whenever she left the gates of her community. 

 

BNA-Nashville International Airport   
Friday, March 20th, 2020   
Nashville, TN

Sam Evans was pretty sure it was kind of ridiculous how happy and nervous he was waiting on Mercedes plane to disembark. It had technically been less than a week since they last saw each other, but he missed her in ways that he didn’t really understand, he just knew that they hurt. They talked every day, usually more than twice. Sam knew that he should be grateful that they were able to communicate that much during a hugely busy time of year for both of them. The time was made even busier by the fact that on the one day Sam literally had absolutely nothing to do, when his friend and chief of security had learned that Mercedes would be staying with him for the weekend rather than getting a hotel, Puck had put his foot down and dragged Sam shopping. 

It may have been true that since Sam never brought women back to his house…never ever…that his bedroom may have closely resembled that of a college freshman in an all male dorm. He had nice furniture. His mom and dad had helped him furnish his whole house…not monetarily, but physically going with him to furniture stores and helping him pick the right designs for each room and tell quality from shoddy craftsmanship. Ultimately his bedroom suite was in the Continental style with a California King sized sleigh bed using a rich deep wood barrel stain, matching dark ivory damask covered bed bench, and two five drawer chests and two night stands all in the same style and matching stain. However, while his mom and sister had had a field day getting nice bedding for the guest rooms…he’d just grabbed some sheets and blankets from JC Penney and let that do for his master bedroom. 

After looking into a few boutique shops, Puck almost gave up. They were looking in the right price range and fabric qualities…but nothing looked masculine enough for Sam to purchase. Puck was pretty sure that if the bedding was too feminine Mercedes would reach one of two detrimental conclusions. The least adverse, would be that his Mother had picked it out. The more objectionable would be that it had been done with another woman in mind. Sam had ultimately picked something Puck thought bordered on the girly, but Sam felt was a great blending of him and Mercedes styles and best of all it would look great with his bed. It was an Art Nouveau set in deep woodsy browns and a beautiful shade of blue. The set had a wide array of fabrics from crushed silk to velvet and was pretty easy to assemble. They got one of the sales people to get every single piece of the set and the pillows they would need to go with the cases. Some thousand thread count Egyptian cotton sheets in a pale ivory and trimmed in a blue that almost matched perfectly and he was happy. But Puck made him get another set of sheets for that duvet set then dragged him back into the fray to choose a backup bedding set. “They are dry clean only. What are you gonna do when you need to send this set to the cleaners?” he’d asked imperiously.   
Sam shook his head and, seeing the look in his friend’s eye, decided not to say ‘sleep on my regular stuff’ as was his first thought. Instead he quickly picked a very masculine charcoal and other shades of gray bedding set. The charcoal duvet cover was a smooth expanse of Italian-woven, Egyptian-cotton sateen with jacquard border appliqué. Once Puck approved the choice, Sam rolled his eyes and grumbled that he was supposed be the boss, but he directed their very helpful salesman, whose name tag proclaimed him to be Tony, to get them every part of the set and the pillows that went with it too. That set came with its own high thread count Egyptian cotton sheets so Sam and Puck should have been done. However, Puck still wasn’t satisfied. He made Sam turn his attention to his master bath. Sam groaned but had to admit that he was still using the same towels his mom and dad had bought him to go to college with, so he suffered through picking better towels and all the other stuff he needed so that Mercedes wouldn’t think he was ‘a total schlub’. Sam truly lucked out, Tony was more than willing to help him in meeting all his home goods needs. Sam left Neiman Marcus that afternoon with two complete bedding sets, from pillows to the dust ruffles, he had four sets of super high end white Egyptian cotton terry cloth towels, two sets trimmed in aqua and two sets trimmed in charcoal, from face cloth to bath sheet and everything in between. The ones in stock came with the company’s simple M monogram, so Puck had spoken up and told Tony to order him four more sets, same break down monogrammed with an S for Sam. Sam even got the bath tub mats to go in front of his tub and shower. 

By the time he finished checking Sam out; Tony was ready to name his first born child after the country singer. Sam took all the bedding immediately to his usual drycleaners and asked that he have it all ready within two days. Then he and Puck went to the Evans farm, after swinging through the nearby Sprawl-Mart and selecting the perfect scents of detergent and softener and dryer sheets and drop ins for extra smell. All clean linen, with the unstoppables that were simply called ‘fresh’…”oh” Sam groaned as he headed back down the aisle just as they were walking clear. He went back and exchanged the Gain for the Tide. 

He remembered what happened when he was little and his mom had bought Cheer which was on sale. The doctor’s bill from having to take Sam to the Urgent Care to deal with the allergic reaction definitely undid any small savings on buying a different brand than their usual Tide. Their family had never purchased a non-Tide detergent ever again. Sam used his mother’s high efficiency washer and dryer to wash all the sheets and non-decorative pillow cases and towels. Unfortunately that was what ultimately clued his mother in on the fact that, despite having the hookups in place in a dedicated laundry room, Sam had never bought his own washer and dryer. Instead of getting one, Sam had just been slipping his laundry in with the rest of the families’ when he came out to the farm or sending it to the by the pound washing mat near Puck’s apartment. Suffice it to say before they left the house that day, Lowes was quite enriched by Sam Evans as well. 

Sam shook off the memories of the forced shopping trip from hell and returned his attention to thinking through the discussions he and Mercedes had had about dealing with the fallout of Sam’s altercation with Shane Tinsley. Part of the decisions they had reached and that their camps both actually agreed with was that they wouldn’t address it formally until they were together. Even then neither of them felt like doing a formal statement or press conference. So they decided that Simon and Toni would let it leak after Mercedes and her crew were in the air that she was flying to Tennessee to see Sam. Those reporters who showed up would end up with an unexpected exclusive. 

Before Mercedes’ flight landed, Deja and Kurt had helped the star change into something appropriate for an impromptu media meet and greet. Because of the earlier interviews, she had been in a rather severe business casual look when she started the flight, but it wasn’t the look she wanted to convey when she saw Sam again after a week. Even working with the limited space, they managed to have Mercedes looking like a star in a pair of very well cut dark wash skinny jeans, tucked into knee high black leather, heeled boots. She was wearing a pretty purple geometric printed surplice top with a deep v neckline that would have showed the deep well of her cleavage were it not for the simple ivory silk and lace camisole she wore under the blouse. The hip length blouse was cinched in at the waist with a thin belt that matched her boots. With warm purple softly shadowing her lids and that color mimicked by the gloss on her lips, Mercedes stepped off the plane looking fierce and fabulous. 

Carrying only the big tote bag in which she carried all her essentials as well as her night wear and several sets of ‘just in case my luggage gets lost’ lingerie, Mercedes and her entourage moved according to plan. Together they made their way through the security checkpoint signing autographs when asked but not purposely drawing any undue attention. As soon as they made it through the gate, she saw Sam with both Puck and Slick standing there looking as if they were trying and failing to be incognito. Santana, Kurt and Deja headed immediately to baggage claim but Mercedes found herself immobilized just drinking in the sight of his tall, built, denim and wool clad form. Once their eyes locked there was no fooling anyone. Mercedes took two normal steps forward and found herself already enveloped in Sam’s arms. Sam may have rushed to meet her but it was Mercedes who lifted her mouth, while threading her fingers through his hair and pulling his head down so their lips meet half way. Neither of them paid any attention to the swarm of paparazzi and entertainment journalists around them, or to the people trying not to watch as they went busily along their way. Sam growled in disappointment when his lungs demanded that he break the kiss. 

“Hey Darlin’.” He whispered as he rested his forehead against hers.

Mercedes smiled up at him murmuring, “I missed you way more than any reasonable person would consider possible.” 

Sam’s laughter broke the spell that they had woven, not only on themselves but on many of the travelers around them. Together they turned to the assembled crowd of reporters. “Hey y’all.” Sam said simply. 

Mercedes gently swats at his chest until the bands of his grip loosen enough that she could turn around and face them as well. “Good afternoon, I guess we should thank you for coming to ask us a bunch of questions we’d rather not answer, but our fans are itching at the bit to know.” 

“Usually Simon or Mercedes’ manager would tell you what you can or cannot ask, since they aren’t here we’re going to tell you that you can ask something, but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to answer.” Sam said giving them a gracious smile. 

“I’d like to suggest that you not bother asking us anything you already know the answer to.” Mercedes finished with a grin of her own.

Sam pointed at one of the TMZ guys, a clear indicator for him to voice his question. “Okay, Mercedes, Miss Jones, how long did you and Shane Tinsley date?” 

“We dated for a little over two thirds of a school year…out senior year of high school.” Mercedes answered truthfully. 

Sam randomly picked another paparazzo. “Sam, we know that you two met through your head of security…was it love at sight?”

“Of course it was. Cupid didn’t even use one of those nice little arrows. He hit me dead in the heart with a bazooka.” Sam said with a big smile. “It’s taking me a little but longer to convince Ms. Jones of the same thing.”

They shared a chuckle at that and She gestured at a female, much in the same prompt as Sam’s, in the crowd. A woman Mercedes was surprised to realize was actually Christine Everhart. “So, Mercedes, you’re bringing a suit against Shane Tinsley for slander and defamation of character…what are you claiming he said that qualifies as slander?”

Mercedes rolled her eyes. “You know that I’m not discussing that since it is part of a pending legal action. Next.”

“Mr. Tinsley said that you had Sam fooled into believing that you were a virgin. Are you?” a bold, ‘loc’ed reporter laughingly asked. 

“Not that it’s anybody’s business but mine, Sam’s and the Lord’s but yes, I am.” She answered honestly. “Next question.”

A hushed whoa went through the crowd. “Why and how?” a tall, thin, very young reporter asked. Her voice rising easily above the awed silence.

Sam shot her a look that clearly said she was not bright. But he kept his comments to himself and allowed Mercedes to speak for herself. She wasn’t quite as nice. While her words answered the query, her tone clearly said that the woman wasn’t the sharpest tool in the kit. “As part of my walk with God, I chose to commit myself to living by the rules He set forth in His word. I have chosen to stay a virgin until my marriage. Just as I have chosen not to tell any unnecessary untruths or kill anyone or hold to false idols or break any of the Ten Commandments. As for the how, I will admit that it has gotten harder to remain chaste in the last several months…but I remain firm in my faith.” 

“And Sam, you’re down with waiting on the cookie until marriage…that’s some bazooka.” Someone almost shouted. 

“Wow…kind of crass, but I’m gonna speak to your point. Anything worth having is worth waiting for, and I always knew that the woman worth dedicating my life to was gonna be special. There are so many amazing ways that Mercedes is special…this is actually kind of the least of them. Besides, I was raised catholic. I’m supposed to be following God’s law myself. Since Mercedes and I have started our relationship, I’ve made my way back to the church and I have repented, done penance and until she is my wife I’m gonna remain chaste.” 

“So you beat Tinsley because you’re backed up?” 

“No, I beat Tinsley because he was a crass jackass who lied about and disrespected my woman.” Sam growled. “And before you try spittin’ some stupidity, I would never, will never, could never cheat on her.”

Another voice spoke up, “Mercedes, have your parents met Sam? How do feel about you bringing home a white boy?” 

“Yes, they have met him. My parents are dentists as long as his teeth are in good condition and he treats me at least as well as my father treats my mother, they get along just fine.” 

Sam smiled. “I’d better get back in the studio…I’ve gotta buy you the biggest house in three counties...four if I’m supposed to do better than Dr. Alfred.” He joked. “Alright people, we’ve gotta be somewhere pretty special really soon, so last question.” 

“Mercedes, Sam says that he knew he loved you the very night you met…do you love him and, if so, when did you know.” 

“I have known since I opened my heart and was willing to listen to it.” She answered quietly. She knew that Sam would understand what she meant and she felt that he was the only one who really should.   
With that Puck, Slick and Tank hustled Mercedes, Sam and Cedes’ people out of the crowd, the guys all grabbing luggage so that the group could move quickly. They divided up into Sam’s and Puck’s SUVs before making their way to Sam’s house. By the time they made it through the early evening traffic, word of Mercedes’ virginity had broken and it was even the lead story on the evening news. Most reports tried to maintain a level of professionalism, but pop culture stories had always been the safe chatter subjects for anchors. That led to several of them discussing the veracity of Mercedes claims. For the most part the disbelief came mainly from younger women, who seemed to feel that Mercedes’ personal choices somehow vilified their own and therefore couldn’t possibly be true. The only other reporters that basically called Mercedes a liar were the ones on Fox News. The ultra conservatives all basically seemed to hold the belief that a black woman, let alone one with large breasts and an even bigger backside, couldn’t possibly have the moral fiber to maintain her virginity for twenty five minutes, let alone twenty five years. Puck shut that shit off with the quickness when they started making it political and even starting to dissect the odds of the former first daughters still remaining chaste. 

Unfortunately he didn’t move fast enough and Mercedes, Deja and Santana had all started yelling at the screen. It took the guys the better part of an hour to get them calmed down. Even then, it really only worked because Slick suggested they hit Twitter and vent their rage. Mercedes was able to silent the people who were claiming that she was ‘slut shaming’ by asking them how talking about her personal choice made any difference in theirs. Elsewhere in the same city, her soon to be sister-in-law, Stacey Evans, who had been following Mercedes Jones on twitter long before the Grammys, was tweeting that while Mercedes hadn’t called anyone a slut, there were a lot of hit dogs that were hollering. Sam ordered in dinner for all of them and they ate while discussing the media coverage with Simon and Toni as well as their dedicated PR staff. For the most part they were happy with what was said. However Toni felt that Mercedes response to the final question made Sam look more emotional invested in the relationship than she was.

“I understand the whole strong black woman can’t admit to loving this man as much as he states he loves me’ thing…but Mercedes this was the chance to set up the fact that whenever you two marry it is all about the love and the sex is secondary.” Toni chastised her client. “Look, when you get back, you are set to do the Queen Latifah show. When you’re sitting down with her go all in. Make the world believe what we all know, that you and Sam are deeply and desperately in love.” 

Simon was smart enough not to agree verbally, though he felt that the other manager was being truthful. “Sam, try and keep your temper. You have to go to court to convince a judge that you’re sorry for your actions.” 

“How the hell am I supposed to do that? I thought I had to tell the truth in court?” Sam gasped. 

“You say, ‘your honor, I am incredibly sorry that I was forced to answer the disrespect offered towards the woman I love with violence’.” Santana told him with a shark-like smile. “That way you aren’t lying…but you don’t say that you’d do it again in a heartbeat and wish you could have permanently injured the bastard so he couldn’t talk shit about Cedes never ever again.”

Everyone laughed heartily, the laughter only got louder when Sam proclaimed that the best answer ever and he would have to remember it to use when he did get before a judge. Once Simon and Toni signed off, the large group of friends realized how late it had gotten. Sam got up to show everyone where they would be sleeping only to find that Santana was going to go home with Puck and Slick was going to let Kurt stay at his place. With those two changes, Sam decided to rethink his original plan. Tank got the first floor guest suite, while Deja got the bedroom farthest from the master suite and Mercedes the one closest to it. “Alright, we can meet up here in the morning, be here by ten thirty so we can head up. We’re supposed to be out at the farm by twelve. I’d say we can get breakfast before we go, but Momma’s gonna be shoving food into our hands from the second we open the car doors.” 

As soon as Sam locked up, the remaining guests headed to their rooms to clean up and get ready for bed. Mercedes took a shower and moisturized before donning a pair of light gold lace boy shorts and slipping on one of the beautiful nightgowns Sam had given her for Valentine’s Day. She had actually had a hard time making a choice between the Old Hollywood glamorous, almond silk draped back, floor length night gown with its matching sheer silk and lace robe and the more sexy black silk with lace side panels and short black shantung kimono that accompanied it. Ultimately she went for the greater coverage provided by the more conservative, lighter colored gown. Once she put away her clothes, set all her electronics to charge overnight and settled everything for the night, she found that she wasn’t exactly sleepy. It took her only a few moments to reach a decision. 

When Sam heard the knock at his door he was just stepping out of a long, hot shower where he’d spent quite a long time in the pursuit of self-pleasure to thoughts of his beautiful almost fiancée. Sam quickly threw on a pair of his boxers and some flannel sleep pants that his mother had given him for Christmas and headed to see what was wrong. Nothing prepared him for the sight before him when he opened that bedroom door. The dark ivory silk with its slightly golden sheen made Mercedes’ skin glow. She had wrapped up her hair, but somehow the scarf made scrubbed clean face seem so pretty that she just took his breath away. 

Mercedes wasn’t in any better shape, Sam was bare chested and bare footed. His skin was still damp from the shower and one drop of water was slowly making its way down his neck and along the center ridge of his sternum. The arousal that sang through her veins was stronger than she had ever felt before and her knees went weak. “God really does love me.” She murmured. 

Sam shook his head his eyes flowing over her curves. “Sorry Darlin’ but I’ve gotta tell you…he loves me more.” 

With a little chuckle, Mercedes told him that they would have to agree to disagree. “So, I’m not really sleepy. Wanna watch some TV…or something?”

Sam Evans had grown up in a rather progressive southern Catholic church, often the priest’s sermon sounded a lot like his southern Baptist cousin’s pastor’s sermons when he visited them sometimes. One thing he had learned as a child that had always stuck with him was that God never gave us more than we could bear. Sam had, on many occasions thought that God greatly overestimated him. That night was definitely one of those times. “I suppose we can find something to watch…if not I have a fairly awesome digital movie library.” He ushered her into the room and gently closed the door.   
Sam had never before been so grateful that Puck knew Mercedes so well as he listened to Mercedes coo over his luxurious brown and teal bedding. “I’m glad you like it Darlin’.” he whispered into the heavy air of the room. “Why don’t you make yourself at home? Would you like some water?” he asked and moved to the minifridge hidden in the custom built entertainment center across from his bed. “Or I can run down to the kitchen and get you something else. It might be weird, but I’ve never quite been able to break myself of my parent’s rule that we could only have water in the bedrooms.”

Mercedes merry laughter broke the tension in the room. “My parents had that rule too. Heck me and Trey couldn’t have anything to drink but water after dinner. They were serious about that too. Dentists man…” she shared. 

“Okay Hermione…” Sam lovingly teased. “Ya know, we could watch that. I have all eight of them.” He told her as if sharing a deep dark secret. 

“It has been a while since I’ve watched those. I’m more likely to reread the books…” she said in a similar confessional manner. 

“Except the epilogue.” They said together. 

Mercedes decided to make herself at home as Sam had suggested. She took off the lacy confection of a robe and laid it over the bench at the foot of Sam’s huge bed. She walked around the bed to the side furthest from the room’s main door and left her pretty house slippers beside the very sturdy piece of furniture and clambered up onto the gorgeous, sumptuous bedding. “Is here good?” she asked once she got settled against the nest of pillows. Sam had shuffled all the decorative ones to that side and had three of the four sleeping pillows stacked up on his side. 

“It’s perfect.” Sam smiled at how right she looked in his room, in his bed. He grabbed the remote from the console where he kept it to reduce his temptation to watch TV all night rather than sleeping and dipped into his closet. As he pulled out his favorite fleece blanket, he started telling Mercedes all about the journey it had taken him to get a bed suitable for a Diva…at least according to Puck. By the time he joined Mercedes in the bed they were both laughing at the tale of woe and misery he’d made the shopping experience into. “So Ms. Jones…I have got to say that nightgown looks even better on you than I thought it would.” 

“Well. Mr. Evans, as I told you when I opened it, I am very impressed by your good taste.” She said proudly. She couldn’t hide the fact that she was really, really enjoying the way Sam reacted to her. Her nipples were hard enough to press dramatically against the silk and Sam’s eyes kept zeroing in on them. Leaning over, she pressed a small kiss to his cheek. 

Sam wanted more. But he was good. He started Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, settled back in and pulled Mercedes close into his side. He figured given that Mercedes was a true and total virgin, he’d begin as he had in Manhattan, just snuggling as they watched the movie. Once Hagrid had taken Harry shopping, he made his move, tilting his head just so that he could press kisses to Mercedes ear and neck. “God, you smell so good, Darlin’.” He whispered against the warm, supple skin of her neck. The clean, rich, warm smell of Mercedes was only enhanced by the vanilla and cocoa scents of her shea and cocoa butter lotions. His lips made their way around to hers. The kiss was electric and went from playful and teasing to deep and searching faster than Sam had expected or Mercedes was conscious of. The feel of Sam leaning over her, his skin under her hand was doing far more to her sense of desire and passion and want than the Valentine kisses on the couch when she had been in total control and they had both remained fully dressed. 

She barely heard Hermione educating Ron on the correct way to pronounce the levitation spell over the frantic beating of her heart. Sam’s tongue was delicious and strong and flexible. He used it to play with hers teasing and coaxing it until Mercedes own oral digit had followed his back into his mouth. Once he had it where he wanted it he took complete advantage of the vulnerability to gently suck on the tip. Even Mercedes inexperienced body figured out how to process that as her mind immediately posed the internal question, ‘if that feels good how awesome would it feel if he were sucking something else?’ Her back arched and a moan was stifled under the heat of Sam’s kisses. He heard and felt it all the way through his body. Sam’s cock, though ‘satisfied’ earlier, was hard and throbbing again having Mercedes in his bed, in his arms, enjoying his kisses and dressed in something beautiful he’d picked for her. Mercedes shifted, sliding one hand up his arm, around his neck and into his thick, short hair while she slid the other down his chest, over his rock hard, well defined abs to play teasingly with the waistband of his pajama pants. Taking her actions as a form of tactic agreement with his progression, Sam slowly kissed his way down her jaw and to her neck. Dotted kisses and taunting nips trailed over her neck to her collar bone. Sam used his nose to gently nudge the wide strap of her night gown down and off one shoulder, tasting her there before making the return journey to her lush, kiss swollen lips. 

Though Sam’s movement and her own had seen to it that Mercedes was further down the bed in a much more supine position that she’d started in, when Sam’s lips returned to hers, she kissed him hard and deep, playing the same game he’d taught her only minutes before until it was Sam’s tongue experiencing the delightful sensation of being sucked, though Mercedes wasn’t as gently with her drawing and teasing as Sam had been. Sam’s answering moan set her whole body aflame. Her pussy clinched, as if wishing desperately for something to fill its long empty sheath. Through the thin silk of the expensive negligee, her nipples were hard enough to cut glass and pressing deliciously into the firm expanse of Sam’s chest. When Sam left the kiss to start his journey to her other shoulder, Mercedes moan his name, “Sam, oh God, I feel…I need…” she stammered. 

He decided to give them what they both needed and slid his had from her hip up over her curves to the bottom swell of her breast. ‘God, her tit was fucking made for my hand’. Sam thought to himself as Mercedes proved that there really was a woman on the earth with natural soft tits that were bigger than the huge hands God had seen fit to give him. Gently he kneaded the deceptively soft mound, a little surprised when Mercedes begged for more very quickly. He kicked the massage up a notch drawing a moan from deep inside his innocent lover. Even while he was busily pushing the second strap away from its resting place, Sam’s fingers found the hardened nubbin that had made Mercy feel so good when it was dragging against his chest, and he started to run his thumb firmly back and forth across it. “Unngh…ga…Sam, more.” Another visceral growl of desire shook Sam’s resolve to go slow, but he remained resolute. He gave her more, but just a little. Teasingly he pinched and plucked her nipple, reveling in her hissed, “yeah…fuck, harder Sam…more please.”

“You like having your titties played with don’t cha Darlin’. Thank God, ‘cause I don’t think I’m ever gonna get tired of playin’ with ‘em. Fuck Mercy…they’re so damn big. They’re sensitive too aren’t they?” Sam’s murmurs against Mercedes’ skin were making her crazy. Sam mentally ticked off the shared column next to a few more of his favorites on his personal fetish list; making out, dirty talking and breast play. “God, Babydoll…shit, I need to get my mouth on these tonight, okay Darlin’? I was just gonna prod you along and see how you liked me pushing your boundaries…but I need to know that you’re good with my getting you naked to the waist and sucking you sexy titties until we’re both losing our damn minds. Are you okay with it, Mercy-mine?” 

Mercedes nodded emphatically. Sam’s voice was a soft, low, southern drawl that was making every part of her putty in his hands. “Oh God yeah…Shit…please Sam.” She had a thought in that moment that all Sam ever needed to do to get her to agree to anything, anything at all would be to ask her in that voice. “This is why God made sure to send you to catholic school…if you’d’ve been at McKinley…Oh Gooood.” She panted “…my virginity wouldn’t have lasted a hot minute.”

Sam smirked. He was pretty sure that Mercedes would have led him on a merry chase and they still would have ended up at twenty five, him convincing her to give him her cookie. But he had a feeling, so he decided to play her naughty little game. “Oh it would have lasted a while. I’d have gone slow with you back then, just like I’m doing now…by the end of our first month together, I’d have learned all I could about how to get you wet and ready without removing a single article of clothing. By the end of the second, I’d’ve talked you into letting me lick and suck and tease and play with these beautiful titties whenever and where ever I wanted, and you’d have let me. Half way through month three, I’d have been completely addicted to the taste of you on my tongue and you’d have known the perfect way to bring me to my knees with your hot little hand. End of month three, you’d have known for sure if you had a gag reflex and you’d be as addicted to the taste of my cum as I’m gonna be to the taste of your sweet, creamy pussy juice. By month four we’d have been going at it like bunny rabbits whenever we could, and probably a few times we shouldn’t have. Now, by month five….you wouldn’t have had a single virginal bit about you, and depending on what all you discover you’re into I might not have either.” The entire time he’d been creating the most arousing mental images Mercedes mind had ever played host to, Sam’s fingers had been teasing and pinching, plucking and twisting her nipple and while his other hand clinched and relaxed massaging her wide full hips. 

Mercedes was driving Sam just as insane with desire as he was her. She was just as wet and ready as he’d described in his wicked words. The scent of her arousal pulsed through the air every time she rubbed her thighs together hoping to rub them just right to send herself over the edge. Her passions so great that she was literally writhing under him, making Sam imagine riding her motions as he was buried deep within a tightness he couldn’t allow himself to fully consider lest he cum in his pants before he could introduce her to the pleasure that only he could give her. The keening, gasping, begging cries of her desperate passion only made it that much more heavenly and that much more hellish.

Sam pulled back just long enough to settle back up against the pillows before he pulled Mercedes over on top of him. With Mercedes above him, the large, soft swells were right in front of him and for the first time they were completely bare. His eyes devoured the sight of them. Their big, lush weight, the dark chocolate areolas, barely bigger than a half dollar and pebbled with want, the long hard nipples. The shift in their placement lined their crotches up and Sam could feel her hot, wet heat through the three layers keeping her prize safe. Mercedes couldn’t sit still. The ridge of Sam’s cock was perfectly place to rub her clit and the sensitive pink area between it and, the still shielded, opening of her treasure. Sam buried his face between her breasts, his mouth kissing and exploring the soft skin of her left breast. Before reaching allowing himself to taste her swollen, hard nipple Sam moved to the other breast and kissed it as well. Mercedes's breathing grew shorter and shallow as they both nudged her closer and closer to ecstasy. 

Sam’s left hand moved from her hips to grab her ass as he made love to her tits, still deliberately avoiding her nipples. His right hand came up to weigh her left breast as he kissed her right. "So fuckin’ amazing Darlin’. I’m gonna need sixty or seventy years to get tired of loving you," he whispered. After torturing her for as long as he dared his mouth moved to capture her right nipple and Mercedes's arousal skyrocketed. Both Mercedes and Sam became more excited as he enjoyed her swollen nipples. His fire was enhanced as he felt his pants getting wetter, her pussy juice having long since become too much for her panties to contain. Sam loved knowing that he was giving her pleasure. He switched hands so that he could hold her body close with one hand while fondling her other breast. He grasped her and fed her right breast into his hungry mouth. Again, teasing her nipple with his lips, tongue and teeth drove each of them to new levels of arousal.

Feeling she wouldn't move away Sam released his grasp on Mercedes's ass and both of his hands focused on clasping Mercedes's tits. He was in heaven; Mercedes felt amazing; she was grinding her pussy against the ridge of the underside of his cock. Sam was thrusting up against her as he lavished her nipples with his full and undivided attention sucking harder and harder at the one in his mouth and pinching, pulling and twisting the other right next to it. Both Sam and Mercedes worlds were filled with a bright white light as pleasure flowed through both of them, so white hot and intense that it stole their breath even as it compelled them to call each other’s names. 

Sam pulled Mercedes down against his chest, their hearts pounding in perfect time. “Good God, Darlin’ you just made me cum in my pants like I really was fifteen. If you make me cum that hard from us just foolin’ around…our first time might just put me in the ground.” 

“Wait…that was just fooling around?” Mercedes asked breathlessly. Involuntarily her hips rolled making them both gasp as sensation flooded them anew. 

His chuckle turned into a groan as he realized that this position was still both heaven and hell. “Mercy, technically we were tap dancin’ around second base.” He drew her back down capturing her lips with his again. He played with her breasts and drugged her with his kisses rolling them until he was hovering over her, his hips controlling her pleasure. He wasn’t happy until she screamed out his name again. When her breathing leveled back out, Sam kissed her very gently and pulled her nightgown back up, almost whimpering as her tits were hidden from his gaze. “Come on, Mercy…Let’s get you to your bed, we’re waitin’ for the wedding remember. You’ve made it this far, might as well go the distance.” He cajoled and prodded until she was able to stand. 

“Alright, but we’re gonna have to get the ball rollin’ on this whole marriage thing. I need more of that in my life in the worst way.” She said as she slipped her feet into her slippers. “Sam, I mean, I know I don’t know but that felt special. Have you ever…?” her voice drifted off on a sea of vulnerability.

“Darlin’ I have never experienced feelings like that before in all my days. I’ve had sex that didn’t make me feel as good or as whole and complete or as satisfied as rolling around with you just did. It was totally special. We were meant to be…meant to love one another.” He answered with complete and total honesty. 

“Maybe rather than waiting for the fourth of July to get our families together we could do it for Easter.” Her voice was low and sleepy, lethargy from two very, very strong orgasms, her very first co-ed ones. 

“Alright, Darlin’ we’ll talk it out tomorrow.” He walked her to her room and tucked her into the bed. “I love you, so very, very much, Sweetheart.” She was knocked out before he leaned down to give her another kiss. With a sigh, he headed into his bathroom to take a quick, cold shower. Soon as he had washed the evidence of Mercedes’ power over him away, he ran down to his laundry room to do a small load of underwear before finding his way back to bed and slipping into the world of dreams.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)  
> 

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 9

 

Evans Family Farm  
Saturday, March 21th, 2020  
Dickson, TN

Mary Denise Sherringer Evans was many things; an avid reader, a wonderful cook and a caring and considerate mother. What she wasn’t, was a fool. She had spoken to her son the morning after he’d won four Grammys. She’d seen the pictures of her eldest child the night after the Grammys and the night after that. She had celebrated with him after he’d returned to Tennessee. She very quickly realized during their phone conversation that despite beating out a man he’d idolized since early childhood, rather than talking about his wins, he was talking all about Puck’s amazing friend Mercedes. She had seen the looks in his eyes in the pictures--not just of adoration or the trivial heat of momentary lust. She had seen the way his eyes tracked Mercedes desperately. She remembered seeing those looks in the eyes of another Evans man directed at her one warm August night twenty six years before and every single day and night since then. Her boy was in love. 

That being said as she was a caring mother, she decided that she wanted to know more about her future daughter-in-law. So she studied. She knew that a lot of people would accuse her of internet stalking, but she just wanted to know more about the girl who’d captured her boy’s heart. Mary was very proud of the fact that she kept her searching to easily available on the internet information. At least she had until the fight at BNA. Then it was all bets off. “You know,” Mary thought to herself, “if your daughter is a superstar well on the way to megasuperduperstardom, maybe you should stop listing your business name and phone number online. Before Mary had time to work hard enough to talk herself out of it, she’d found and dialed the number. The second she had told the receptionist that her name was Mary Evans; she was immediately put through to Constance Jones. 

“Thank the lord above you called me. You have no idea how long I have been sitting here regretting the promise my husband made me give him about contacting y’all.” The dentist said in place of a more normative greeting. 

Mary’s laughter was loud and warm and musical and ended only when she whispered, “I’ve been distracting my hubby with sex so he’d keep forgetting that I didn’t actually promise not to see if I could find you.” 

“Girl that would have been a damn fine idea, but Alfred got hip to that game long time ago…he’d have just held me down and forced me to agree in ways that would be far too pleasant to get angry about.” Connie laughed. “Okay so first things first. I am so glad that you seem like a good person and that we seem as if we’re going to get along just fine. Second of all…that Tinsley boy is a pathetic soul and a couple of my cousins down in your neck of the woods are going to be paying him a visit real soon. I do not know if Mercedes is still a virgin, but I know that she was one for a really, really, really long time after she dated him. The last time I actually asked her about the ‘state of her union’ she was twenty one.” She laid the most pertinent facts on the table as she saw them. 

Mary thanked her for that then continued, “In the spirit of quid pro quo, allow me to say that this is only the third fight Sam’s gotten into in his whole life. And you know now that I think about it, they have all been in defense of someone be it defense of their physical body or they emotional well-being. He has never and will never raise a hand to her in anger. Sammy ain’t been pure since Debbie Jo Feehan came with one of my nieces to our family reunion when he was fifteen…though I will admit if my brother Roger hadn’t caught them going at it in one of bathrooms, I would still be blissfully unaware. Don’t know why he had to tell me either, he’d already told Dwight.” The two women shared a laugh and talked until they both had to get off the phone. However, they not only exchanged information they made arrangements to meet as soon as possible.

Saturday morning, Mary woke very early and started cooking and prepping anything that she needed or could get started that early. She would be feeding sixteen people that day and with her husband and all her boys, including Slick, Trigger and Puck, plus the fact that one of her guests went by the nickname Tank, she was actually preparing enough food for twenty five. She kept glancing at the kitchen clock and the moment she had completed all that she could, she raced upstairs. She showered, brushed her teeth, cleansed her face, did her makeup and pulled on her favorite pair of well-loved jeans, a long sleeved, silk white tee shirt covering that with a one button fleece wrap cardigan in heather purple and her favorite black cowboy boots. She woke Dwight, Stevie and Stacey so that they could get everything they needed to get done handled in her absence. 

Most of her neighbors would have been surprised to realize that Mary Evans had something other than the big truck she drove to work or when she ran her errands around town. But Sam had given her a beautiful, royal blue Mercedes Benz. That was what she drove that morning as she made the hour long trek to Nashville International Airport. She parked and went in, pulling her email up so she could look a final time at the picture she had received with the flight landing time of her guests. The flight was only fifteen minutes late, and soon Mary saw them striding towards her pulling their carry ons and smiling at her. 

Constance Jones was a very well put together woman. She was of a little above average height, slender in a very healthy way with beautiful chocolate skin. Her hair was pulled back in an intricate fishbone braid that ended halfway down her back. She was wearing a pair of very cute dark wash jeggings or maybe they were skinny jeans tucked into a fierce pair of black leather riding boots that hit her right under the knee. Her upper body was covered in a beautiful, almost eggplant, vee neck tunic sweater that looked like it was made of the softest cashmere even known to man. In deference to the chilly Tennessee morning she was wearing a thigh length wool peacoat and a pretty hat that matched her sweater. Next to her, with one guiding hand on her back was her husband. 

Alfred Jones was tall and broad and striking and very much a handsome gentleman with skin the color of fresh baked peanut butter cookies and a very low fade haircut that showed that his hairline wasn’t going anywhere despite the large amount of gray shot through the black. While Connie was wearing very fitted pants, showing the world that she definitely still had it, Alfred was wearing a pair of jeans that were relaxed fit and loose. They were a medium wash that had either been distressed to look it or they really were very well loved. He was wearing a navy blue sweater with a wide light blue band around his chest. The light blue was mirrored in the collar of the polo shirt he was wearing under the sweater. Mary couldn’t help but notice that he was wearing a pair of timberland boots that looked scarred and beat up, just like the ones Dwight liked to wear around the farm. 

“Connie, Alfred, it’s so good to meet you.” She said as soon as they were close enough. She stepped forward and greeted both of them in true southern fashion, as if they were old friends. 

“Mary, it is nice to meet you, too.” Connie smiled as she hugged the other mother back. 

Alfred, however, just cut to the chase. “We might as well go ahead and meet and get to know each other. If those kids make it through the summer without dipping off somewhere and tying the knot I will be completely shocked.”

“They had better not even think about it.” Both mothers exclaimed with one voice.

Alfred put up his hands as if warding off their violent reaction. “Okay…if Sam or Cedes tells me that they are thinking about elopement, I will warn them that their mothers will beat the brakes off of them if they go through with it.” 

“You had better…that’s my only daughter. I’ve been dreaming of watching you walk her down the aisle since the minute they told me she was a she.” Connie said sternly. 

Mary cosigned that argument. “Sam is my oldest child. I’m gonna be there to dance at his wedding.” 

The three of them looked at each other before they all started to laugh. They hurriedly made their way out to the farm and Mary introduced Dwight and her younger two children to the Jones, before showing them to one of her two guest rooms. As soon as she reappeared alone, Dwight pulled her to the side. “What the hell are you doing Mary-Love? Sam is liable to kill you.” 

Mary laughed. “Please…” she scoffed. “I know our boy. There are some steps that, in his mind, he has to take before he can ask Mercedes to marry him and they came from your momma. One…meet and date. Done, probably not as long as Faith would have preferred but still done. Two…meet her parents. Done. Three…let your parents meet her. Done, or it will be once they get here later. Then he, and the more I get to know Connie and talk with Alfred, the more I figure it is both of them will need to get the two families together. I invited Mercedes brother too, but he is on call this weekend and can’t be too far from his hospital. But anyway, this all will help Sam. It gets him closer to being able to pop the question.” 

Dwight shook his head in consternation. Partially because she was more than a little right and partially because she was only defending herself with ‘altruism’ because she knew that she was really doing it for the wrong reason. “Just because they get married quickly doesn’t mean that they will give you any grandbabies any time soon.” 

“I know that. I mean, Mercedes is standing on the cusp of being as big as Beyoncé or Whitney or Chaka Khan or hell, maybe even Aretha. And Sam…he won a Grammy in a category where he was up against Tim McGraw. I know that they are going to be too busy to even think about having kids for a while. I just…Dwight, it was so easy for us. We met and married in days. We weren’t even old enough to drink legally…but Sam, he’s been looking for his one for so long. Now that he’s found her, I just want them to start being together.”

Upstairs, Alfred was having a similar discussion with his wife and was having just as little success. “Connie… I want your word that you are going to let Mercedes and Sam find their own way. You’re daydreamin’ about beige, green eyed grandbabies, but those two have their own destinies. No interfering.” 

“Fine, but Mercedes is very busy, so if she needs help with her wedding, I’m helping her.” Connie pouted cutely. 

As he always did when she pouted, Alfred gave her a long, slow, deep kiss before pulling back and whispering against full, lush lips that God had given to both of their children as well. “You can make the offer…but you are not gonna go all Momzilla on her.” 

With a laugh, Connie rebutted. “I know better. My daughter might not hold a grudge, but she gets mad quicker than anybody else I know…other than her daddy. Now, I’m gonna go and see if there is anything I can do to help Mary. You go bond with Dwight. Growing up I was always surrounded by both sides of my family because my grandparents were best friends. We were lucky and blessed that our parents got along…let’s see if Mercedes kids will get as lucky she and I did.”

Alfred just shook his head as he let her go before following to do her bidding. In the back of his mind, he felt it spoke to who the Evanses were that no one was waiting to lead them back downstairs. The house was a good sized farm house, but not so big that an escort was needed. However, Alfred had been in the home of white friends who swore they weren’t racists, but never left him alone in their home for an instant. Usually that resulted in the end of their friendship. Alfred had never stolen anything in his whole life. Being treated like a criminal was not something he could, would or should have to stomach. He found Dwight Evans outside, under a covered patio type area where a small traditional grill, large propane barbeque and a pretty big Big Green Egg smoker were readied for the men to do their part in the day’s feast. “I guess I should apologize for my wife…I’m pretty sure that she is the lead culprit in this whole ‘let’s surprise the kids’ thing.” Dwight said as they quickly established a rhythm putting together large tables that the Evans kept in the garage while Stevie and Stacey cleaned up and set up the many chairs they would need to seat everyone.

“Naw…if things are headed where all four of us think they are between our kids, then there’s no point in setting a precedent of apologizing for our ladies…well unless they are being crazy unreasonable.” The men shared a laugh and started exchanging stories of being married to their wonderful, delightful, wicked and sometimes crazy wives. By the time Sam pulled up in his Lincoln Navigator with Puck right behind him in his GMC Yukon and Simon pulled in a few moments later in his blue black BMW 4-series Gran Coupe, there was food ready and the second Mary saw Mercedes, she was sure that this would all work out fine. 

Sam helped Mercedes out of the passenger side door and she looked beautiful. She was wearing a big, bulky, wool and cashmere turtleneck sweater in a shade of ivory just a little bit lighter than oatmeal that made her brown skin look smooth and silky and lovely. Her legs were encased in tight denim that flowed down into brown riding boots. Her makeup was light and effortless, her hair down in big spiral curls that flowed down her back to her waist. “Well aren’t you just the prettiest thing.” Mary said as soon as Sam had performed the introductions. 

“Thank you and thank you for inviting me to your home and allowing me to bring my friends.” She replied. 

With a big grin, Sam teased, “I’m loving having my two best girls getting to know each other. Where are Dad and the Twin Terrors?”

“They are out back waiting on us.” She said with a wicked little smile. “Now introduce me to everyone else…” 

“Oh yeah, my bad.” Sam shrugged introducing Deja, Kurt, Santana, and Tank to his mother as well. 

“Alright, come on…there’s a surprise waiting on y’all out back.” She said with a smile. She grabbed Santana and threaded her arm through that of the younger woman. “Santana, Noah has told me such wonderful things about you.” She complemented Santana on her very cute flirty, but deceptively warm dress and moto boot combo and admired her long curly black ponytail. “You’ll protect me if those two decide to kill me, right?” Mary dropped her voice to whisper as she led them through the house. 

“Sorry Lady, Puck loves you like another mother and everything, but when Mercedes blows her top for real, even I run for cover. I’ll take you with me, but that’s the best I can promise.” Tana told her with a big smirk.

They went through the back door to find that Mercedes was enveloped in her mother’s arms and Sam was being clapped on his back by Alfred. Santana leaned over and muttered, “Oh, you and Connie aren’t playing with this stuff.” 

“Not even a little bit.” Mary assured her with a grin. 

Everyone paired up and started chatting. Mary and Connie cornered Simon easily, no one else even noticed. “Look, I’m thinking a nice late summer or early fall wedding. We need you to get in contact with Antoinette Langlois, Mercedes manager, and make sure that they have at least two to three weeks off at the end of August and into the beginning of September.” 

Simon looked at both slightly crazed mothers. “Ummm, you do realize that those two aren’t even engaged yet.” 

Connie reached over grabbed Simon’s chin and turned his head to look at the very couple they were discussing. “Do you not see what we do?” Sam and Mercedes were cuddled together as they were laughing and talking to Stevie, Stacey, Kurt and Deja. They looked completely adorable. The others at the table were teasing them and they seemed to be taking it all in stride. The main thing Simon noticed was that they were a presenting a unified front in the face of the taunts and jibes of their friends and family. 

“Okay…so they are definitely in love and gonna get married sooner rather than later…but still word in the trades is, I mean, doesn’t Mercedes tour start not long after the Billboard or BET Awards?” Simon babbled energetically. It was always the best way to get his mother of his back. Just babble at her until she got tired of trying to understand what he was saying. 

Unfortunately for him Mary Evans was a championship babble translator. “Well shit.” She spat. Her and Connie’s eyes met and held as if they were having an entire conversation without saying a word. “A Christmas wedding would be nice.”

“Maybe a destination wedding down in Na’Orleans.” Connie offered. “My family belongs to a beautiful old church even Katrina couldn’t damage too much and all the repairs were long since finished.” 

“And I bet one of those beautiful old hotels or mansions would be perfect for a reception.” Mary nodded. “Plus New Orleans in the winter is a much better idea than late August.” 

“This will give me more time to plan the engagement party.” Connie tried to look on the bright side. “I do hope that Sam pops the question fairly soon. I was able to get the Country Club for the first Saturday in May at a great rate…as long as he does it by Easter, I shouldn’t have to explain to Cedes how I ‘worked a miracle’.” She giggled. “You, Dwight and the twins should come to Lima for Easter.”

Mary looked thoughtful, “the kids will be out on Spring Break. But it’s their senior year, they probably wanna do something with their friends.” She actually would love to go back to Lima for a visit. She had made some truly lovely friends who’d been a great comfort and help to them during their harshest times of struggle. 

Connie could see that Mary really wanted to come, and since she wanted her new friend to come as well, she saw nothing wrong with helping her find a way to make them both happy. “Well, you can always offer them the choice of staying with Sam and doing things with their friends or coming with you and Dwight and possibly seeing some of the friends they made during the two years they lived in Lima.”  
Laughter rang across the large back yard between the farm house and the stables and barn. “That might actually work…especially since Sam is probably gonna want to be where ever Mercedes is.” 

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. Ya know even when she is touring, she usually makes it home for Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving.” Connie confessed. The two women decided to go and get their husbands involved in the plotting. Since they were getting along like a house on fire, they were more than happy to help figure out some ways to ensure that they could spent more time together. 

Everyone mingled talking and getting to know each other as they snacked on the finger foods Mary had laid out as appetizers. Only when those were gone, did they all separate. Sam took Mercedes around the property. He led her to the stables where he introduced her to his stallion, Paladin. “PawPaw gave him to me when he was just a foal. I was seven and I had spent the whole summer watching a really old western show called ‘Have Gun Will Travel’ with him. I don’t remember much about the show, but the name seemed perfect since the guy always wore black. Paladin is actually pretty rare…his momma was a quarter horse that ran with a mustang stallion for a while and popped up in PawPaw’s herd when she was already pretty far gone with this guy. Blacks in either of those are a little rarer in either of those breeds. He’s almost sixteen hands high.” He told her proudly. “He’s always been my responsibility to take care of since I was a little bit a nothing.” 

Mercedes looked at the way Sam’s hands were slowly stroking the animal’s shoulder. “He is very big.” She commented. “Paladin sure seemed happy to see you.” The horse was butting Sam’s shoulder as if trying to get him to let him out so they could go for a ride. 

“He doesn’t really let anyone ride him but me. The most exercise he gets is getting to run in the paddock or to cover the mares that Dad or some of the other area farmers want to breed him with. He was a damn good trick pony back in the day. He still can’t be beat in a flat race. Oh Mercy…if I saddle him want to go for a ride?” 

Mercedes laughed. “Sam, this is the first time I’ve seen a horse in the flesh. I have no clue how to ride one.” 

“No, you can ride double with me.” Sam told her. His voice was so very excited. “Come on. We won’t go far.” 

Before she knew it, Mercedes heard herself agreeing. Sam patiently talked her through the whole process of saddling his Paladin and together they walked him out of the stable and over to the mounting block. Sam used the stirrups to mount, and reached down and helped Mercedes use the mounting block to get up in front of him. “Oh my God, I don’t think my legs have ever been spread this wide before in my life.” She groaned as she settled between the pommel and Sam.

“Good thing you got a little bit of practice last night.” He teased. Sam took Mercedes on a slow butt slightly abbreviated tour of the Evans farm. The land that had been in Sam’s family for generations had been utilized for actual growing of wheat and vegetables for a very long time. “Originally the main crop we grew here was tobacco. Then later we got into corn and cotton…but don’t worry, the Evans family never held to having slaves. I don’t know if it was a family myth or something, but supposedly there was a cabin at the edge of the property that one of my people used to use as a stop on the Underground rail road. On both sides really, because I know for a fact that my one of my grandmother’s uncles joined the Klan and got kicked out of her family. Anyway. When you farm, you have to rotate the crops, or else you end up tapping out all the nutrients in your soil. PawPaw got us into wheat when he took over the farm. Momma and Daddy are thinking about going to soybeans next, but they’re still learning about all of it. Plus they still have their main jobs so they don’t have the kind of time it takes to rotate from wheat to soybeans just yet anyway.”

“Wow…do are you gonna want to take over the farm when they are ready to retire or whatever?” she asked curiously. She didn’t have a problem with living there later on, but she knew that for Sam it would mean giving up the road. 

“No. Maybe our kids will but for Mom and Dad the farm is pretty much gonna be their retirement. Stacey is way more interested in the farm thing than either Stevie or I, and she is hopping to give the fashion industry a go...so I don’t know when she will be ready to take over ‘round here. I don’t much like farming. I would love to have a horse ranch though…but not like a real wild west kind of thing, just a large plot of land, no more than a hundred to a hundred fifty acres, but with a big ass modern house and a pool.” 

Mercedes’ eyes lit up. “I have always wanted to have one of those big, sexy infinity pools with a nice deep, big hot tub next to it.” 

Sam chuckled. “I would love to make love to you in a nice, deep hot tub. Have you screaming my name so loud people can hear it half the county away.” 

“Boy, you so nasty.” She chided without rancor. She leaned back into his chest. “I guess we’ll have to look into getting a bigger house.”

“Not until you’re ready to start having babies. I mean, your house is four bedrooms, and mine is six…so technically either is big enough to handle a kid or two.” Sam pressed a kiss to the column of her neck as they rode. 

“My house lists as four bedrooms, but currently one of those is actually a massive closet.” She confessed. “It was done in such a way, though, that if I ever sell, I can easily convert it back to a bedroom.” 

“If we buy someplace together, we should build an outbuilding to hold our tour buses and wardrobes.” Sam mused. 

“And another to act as a studio.” She agreed. 

“So we need a stable, four to eight stalls and a tack room…and a hayloft. Gotta have my Baby riding me in a hayloft.” Sam teased her gently nipping her earlobe. “We need a barn big enough to hold two big ass tour busses. We need another big enough to be set up as dual wardrobe closets for our tour and event apparel.”

“That one should be pretty close to the main house.” Mercedes told him with a smile. It made her feel all kinds of wonderful discussing their future like this. 

“Maybe we could do that as the basement instead and build a soundproof studio in another out building.” Sam suggested. 

“I like that.” Mercedes dithered for a moment before making her next suggestion. “So we’ll definitely need a caretaker’s cottage, and possibly a small bunk house…we’ll need to hire trustworthy people to take care of Paladin and the other horses you and I both know you’re gonna want. But I think we should build a guest house. Probably two, each of them with enough bedrooms for our whole combined entourage…”

“You sound like you want to build a whole little town. That would take a hell of a lot of land…not gonna find that anywhere near LA.” He prodded. 

A Kanye shrug was his answer. “I was thinking more like we buy some land in southern Ohio or somewhere in between our parents. We can write our music anywhere. We can keep your house in Nashville and mine in LA…or sell them both and buy something smaller just to stay in while we’re in those cities actually laying tracks.” 

“That’s not a bad idea.” Sam acknowledged. “I just assumed that you’d want to stay near a big city.” 

“I thought so too. Until I lived in one long term. I hate LA traffic. I hate all the people…most of whom seem like they go out of their way to be complete and total assholes. I like the restaurants and love the shopping, but we can always go to a city and have those experiences. Plus…our music takes all over the world, having some place quiet and calm to come home to sounds amazing.”

“It really, really does.” Sam agreed. “We’re gonna be so good together Mercy.” 

“Our parents seem to get along well.” She agreed. “They seem to really like each other.” 

“I was surprised to see your Mom and Dad here.” Sam laughed. “Dad told me that the moms started talking on the phone last Monday and they had this all worked out by Tuesday. He said that Momma figured that since I wouldn’t feel like I was able to pop the question until our parents had met, she’d help us out.” 

Mercedes’ merry laughter rang out across the land a startled flock of birds took off from the stand of trees they had been nesting in. “I’m glad she did…after last night…I’m ready to get that next step out of the way. Maybe we can…” she stuttered to a stop. 

“We can what?” Sam prodded. His voice got low and thick. “Maybe we can try something else? Maybe we can try sliding into second?”

She wrenched around in the saddle trying to look at him. “I thought that we’d made second base last night?”

Sam smirked at the back of Mercedes’ head. “Technically, I guess we did. But I was counting that more as hitting the shortstop area of the baseline. I mean I was hoping that we’d go by the theory that hand jobs and me getting my fingers against your flower so I can at least taste that sweet, sweet nectar of yours would be second base and therefore would be the outer limit and where we could cut things off until after our I dos.” He let his voice convey his pouting and kept his arm just tight enough around her sides that she wouldn’t be able to really turn around and look at him. 

“I guess we can use that as our limit. I mean, I know that you aren’t really getting as much pleasure out of our interactions as I am.” She finished naively. 

“Oh no, Darlin’.” Sam shook his head. “You have no idea how much pleasure I get every time I hear you moan or whine or beg. Every time you babble or scream out in pleasure, I’m right there with you. Shee-it, Mercy-mine, you made me pop off in my pants like I haven’t done since I was thirteen years old.”  
Mercedes was very glad that Sam couldn’t see the smug and satisfied look on her face. Knowing that she affected her man that strongly was quite an ego boost and more importantly, it made her feel strangely loved and cherished in a way she knew she would need to analyze later. “We should probably head back. Your parents are gonna have the food on the table soon.” 

The rest of the afternoon was a blur of laughter, conversation, discussions and teasing. Inside jokes were quickly developed and an ‘extended’ family became a lot more tightly bound. The next morning the whole family, minus Simon, attended the nearby St. Christopher’s Catholic Church, the Evans family church for a very, very long time. Everyone actually traveled to the airport together to see Connie and Alfred as well as Mercedes, Kurt, Santana, Deja and Tank off on their respective return flights. The goodbyes were long and exuberant. Sam and Mercedes’ goodbye kiss made the TMZ website’s front page. 

 

Mercedes Jones Residence  
Wednesday, March 21th, 2020  
La Habra Heights, CA

Mercedes was driving her roommate insane. Completely and totally insane. “Stop CLEANING!” the fiery Latina finally screamed. “The place is perfect. Martha Stewart couldn’t make this place look any better…God fuck her soul.” 

The air left Mercedes lungs in a big whoosh. “I know you did not just say that?”

“Oh, I said it and I stand by it. She spent like thirty years making people feel inadequate because they could never be as good as her. Of course they couldn’t…that broad must have sold her soul to a minor demon long before she ever got famous.” Santana reasoned. “Anyway, look…I know that you are nervous. You invited Sam to bring his whole crew and stay here…which is necessitating that he bunks with you. But it is just a few days, I’m sure that he won’t seduce you out of your massive panties in the five nights he’ll be here.” 

“Oh he totally could.” Mercedes laughed. “He won’t, but Girl, after finding out how much I really like ‘foolin’ around’ with him when we were at his house…I’m really weak when it comes to that man.” 

“Good…it’s about time. I been waiting for you to find some guy that forced your ass to finally remember that you had some hormones. You took so long that even I had to pray for you to find somebody worthy of your ass.” Santana grinned. “Anyway like I was saying, you’re golden. You’ve updated all your shit, towels, bedding, new lingerie for both of us, thank you for that by the way…you’ve got enough food in that kitchen to feed an army base of teenage football players. Everything is gonna be fine.” 

“You don’t think Slick is gonna mind having to go and stay at Kurt’s do you?” she worried her lower lip. 

“Long as Hummel doesn’t mind, why would Slick. Trigger should be the one that minds. Slick’s gonna be getting laid, Puck’s gonna be getting laid, Sam’s gonna be getting as close to laid as he can, poor Trigger is gonna be the odd man out.” Tana teased. “Now…they will be here in about three hours and you wanted to make a homemade dinner for everyone.” It was a distraction that would keep Mercedes occupied for hours and give Santana something to do other than watch her be cray-cray. 

Heading into the kitchen Mercedes tried to think about what she wanted to cook. She had decided that since the coming awards show was the Kids Choice Awards and she wouldn’t have to fit into anything sleek and sexy, she could really have some fun with the meal. She’d bought fifteen pounds of extra large shrimp, ten pounds of crawfish, seven pounds of oysters, and five pounds of soft shell crabs…all of that had been headed, shelled, deveined and/or cleaned as appropriate. She was seventy-five percent sure that that would be enough to feed all of them, including Toni and Tank who were coming over for dinner as well. In addition to the main ‘meats’ she also had enough small and medium, the sweeter sized shrimps and sausage to make her Grand’Mere’s jambalaya and a great dirty rice with chopped pecans and slivered almonds. 

As soon as she entered the kitchen, she first set Santana to cutting, chopping and dicing everything that would be needed for the side dishes and the big veggie filled salads. Once that chore was begun, Mercedes turned her attention to her ten cup rice cooker. She had actually gotten that one started earlier before she had decided that she really needed to vacuum in between the couch cushions for a second time. She shook her head thinking internally that Santana may have been right to yell at her. Taking a moment to start the red beans to quick soaking she quickly made a mental list of the best order to take things to get everything done. Mind made up, she went over to her countertop deep fryer, she prepped it with the only oil she felt comfortable frying with, coconut oil was the single healthiest oil for deep frying and it had a light taste that wouldn’t overwhelm her cooking. That done, she turned her attention to making the macaroni and cheese. It didn’t exactly fit with everything else…she just really wanted some. While she boiled a bulk size pack of elbows in water, salt, a little granulated garlic and onion, she assembled the rest of her ingredients, Colby and Monterey jack cheeses, extra sharp, sharp and white cheddar cheeses, eggs, heavy cream, butter and margarine, salt and pepper. Once the elbows were done and drained, she quickly and efficiently assembled the entire concoction and set it in the oven to bake at three fifty. 

After putting those pots and bowl into the dishwasher, she started to assemble the shrimp creole. She coated the bottom and sides of her biggest Dutch oven with a mix of melted butter and olive oil before sautéing the diced andouille sausage until it was just starting to brown. She took that out the pot and set it to the side. Into the pot went an entire bushel of sliced celery. She cooked that until it was starting to soften before adding a boat load of minced garlic. The best part for Mercedes about cooking her grandmothers’s recipes was that there was no measuring at all. So to make enough for a huge crowd there was no multiplying or whatever, there was just plain old fashion eyeballin’ and tastin’ same as if she were just making it for herself. She tossed in a couple of bay leaves and a large amount of cubed onions, red, orange and yellow bell peppers, one diced red pepper. Once the onions and peppers had sweated down and the bay leaves were limp, she pulled the leaves out and tossed in thyme, crushed rosemary, smoked paprika, cayenne and half a bottle of Worchester sauce. She stirred until she saw that it was ready for the next steps and added a big ass can of diced tomatoes, one can of organic tomato juice that was actually the Whole Foods version of V8, several handfuls of sliced okra and just a small handful of her Grand’Mere’s secret ingredient spice blend that she couldn’t even let Santana know about. When that had just reached a boil, she added some Texas Pete and put the andouille sausage back in as well as adding a pound of the small shrimp and two pounds of the medium. She let it reach a rolling boil before tasting and augmenting flavors here and there. When she was completely satisfied that her friends and love would weep in delight at the flavor explosion on their tongues, only then did she cover it, reduce the heat and allow it to simmer on a pretty low heat. 

Mercedes checked the time and decided that roasting the asparagus and squashes and zucchini would be the next order of business. She pulled the big bowl from the dish washer and quickly hand washed it. The cleaned and sliced veggies went into the bowl then Mercedes tossed them with olive oil, minced garlic, granulated onion, thyme, ground ginger, salt and fresh ground white pepper. She spread that out on three different baking sheets and after pulling the macaroni and cheese out of the oven and sitting it on the island to cool, she slid them onto the three racks in her oven. She set a timer so she could pull them and turn the veggies. With that accomplished, she grabbed the salad greens, kale, spinach, arugula, and like three other lettuces and assembled the base of the salad in the biggest salad bowl she had. After tossing those all together she divided the base into two smaller, though nowhere near small bowls and in one she added grape tomatoes, julienned red, yellow, and orange peppers, sliced Kalamata, cerignola, picholine, and gordal olives, and shaved carrots and tossed that one together before covering it with Saran Wrap and putting it into the ridiculously large refrigerator she’d always known she would eventually find a reason for having bought. After setting Santana to turning the roasting vegetables, Mercedes set about fixing up the second salad. The other bowl was treated to some diced mandarin oranges, roasted pecans, almond slivers, pine nuts, quinoa, avocado and sliced castelvetrano olives. Rather than tossing it immediately, she gently shook it to blend the ingredients then covered it and refrigerated it until later. She had made the simple salad dressings the night before and people could pick and choose between the four she felt would work with the two different salads. 

Mercedes didn’t realize that as she’d been concentrating on cooking, she had also been singing. She was currently on Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine’ and Santana was really only still in the kitchen because she couldn’t make herself leave. Mercedes checked their softness and drained the red beans. In her biggest stock pot, she drizzled in some olive oil, and browned some caseless andouille sausage. In the pot went garlic, diced onions, fresh chopped basil, seeded and chopped jalapenos, chopped bell peppers, no green as usual, her Grand’Mere’s secret Cajun spice blend and some rosemary, thyme and crushed ginger. Once that had sweated down some, she added a few ham hocks and the softened beans. She covered them with a mixture of water and chicken stock and brought the pot to a boil. After it had boiled for several minutes, she turned it down to the lower side of medium, covered it and moved on to her next project. 

She pulled all the different shellfish out of the refrigerator and carefully checked them over and then washed them clean. “Tana, lay out some dish towels on my other baking sheets,” Mercedes was the first to admit that she had a bad addiction to buying cooking and baking ware. She needed help, but it was all coming in handy that day. “Cover the dishtowels with two layers of paper towels.” She instructed while she was washing the seafood. She laid all of it out on the prepped baking sheets and started to ready her flour. Two parts self-rising and one part all purpose flour were combined with salt and coarse ground black pepper. Once she had whisked that together until it was fully incorporated, she made the egg wash. Super big bowl was washed yet again and then eggs were cracked…lots and lots and lots of eggs. She opened two cans of Carnation’s evaporated milk …not Pet, never Pet…and poured those in with the eggs. Lawry’s seasoning salt, her Grand’Mere’s secret spices, onion, garlic and ginger powders, black pepper and some Montreal steak seasoning all joined the eggs and milk. Mercedes used her hand mixer to beat that together real fast and she set up her frying area. Deep fryer was preheated to the perfect 400 degrees…the coconut oil was ready to go. Seafood went into the egg bath, was dredged in the flour mixture and then dropped into the deep fryer. When it floated, the baskets were pulled up and allowed to drain for a short time, before being emptied into paper towel lined Pyrex dishes to drain completely. While Mercedes worked like a well-oiled machine, Santana, pulled the roasted veggies and set the baking sheets on Mercedes almost never used tower cooling rack. She stirred the Creole shrimp, emptied the rice cooker into a big ass ceramic thing that she thought went to Mercedes’ crock pot, covered it so it would stay hot, washed the rice cooker and restarted it for the jasmine rice that would be served with the creole shrimp. She was keeping track of the time, really she was, but she was still shocked when she heard the doorbell. 

Santana headed out front and opened the door wearing a tiny red tank top with Elmo’s face among the field of red and a pair of booty shorts. Her hair was up in a bun and she had a smear of tomato on her cheek near her mouth from where she had tasted the creole shrimp. Kurt had taken Baby Jr. to the airport and picked up the five arrivals from Tennessee. Santana was only a little surprised to see that Pamela had joined them, but she knew that they would figure something out as far as housing the woman. “Hola people. We’re in the middle of making dinner. Toni and Tank should be here soon, and Deja had better get here in the next fifteen minutes since she was in charge of providing the desserts.” She let them all into the house. “Let’s see…Sam you can take your stuff up to Cedes room. Go up the stairs to the top floor. Trigger, you are on the second floor…second door to the left is the guest room. Puck first door on the right is my room…you are with me. Slick, oh okay you left your stuff in Baby the Second, good because you’re heading home with Kurt. Please blow his back out. I need him seventy five percent less uptight by Saturday. Pammy, good to see you, you might end up bunking with Trigger if you don’t want to stay at Deja’s. Kurt, could you please run and grab some ice. Toni and Tank are bringing the drinks, don’t know if they are bringing ice though. Sorry if I’m brisk, but I’ve gotta get back in the kitchen if we want to eat soon.” 

She disappeared into the kitchen without letting anybody get a word in edgewise. Sam looked at Puck and Kurt, “did she really just say that I’m in Mercy’s room?”

As soon as Santana rewashed her hands, Mercedes put her to work frying the shellfish using a second batch of Mercedes’ special egg wash and flour, while the chocolate skinned diva assembled the dirty rice. First she drained the completely cooked red beans, then she heated some extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat in her smaller big ass Dutch oven. She sautéed garlic, onion, celery, cored and diced jalapenos and red and yellow bell pepper with the secret spices until they were tender. The remaining small, sweet shrimp went in and she sautéed them until they were pink. She browned the last of the diced andouille sausage and some diced previously steamed chicken gizzards. Next she stirred in the drained kidney beans, some onion powder, salt, pepper, and Texas Pete. After giving that time to come together with some shrimp stock and white wine, she added the rice from her crock pot, butter, chopped green onions, some the chopped pecans, more of the secret spice blend, julienned baby spinach leaves, thinly sliced celery, and a relatively small amount of finely chopped cilantro she poured chicken, shrimp and vegetable stock in until it stirred easily then let it cook while she went back to frying the seafood. 

Once free of the frying station, Santana started the process of cleaning the center island so that it could act as part of the buffet. Even with Mercedes custom built dining table that sat twelve comfortably, they couldn’t put the food out there. She did grab the condiments they would want/need for the dinner, Heinz ketchup and cocktail sauce, Texas Pete, spicy brown mustard and the four homemade salad dressings. She also filled and set out three sets of salt and pepper shakers. Deja arrived with the desserts and they set the wide selection of cupcakes up on the sideboard in the dining room. Kurt returned with the ice and put it away. Then he washed his hands and set the table for twelve…it would leave an empty place setting…but he couldn’t make himself set it for the odd number. Toni and Tank arrived and bottles of perfectly chilled white and rosé wines were uncorked and decanted. Cold Heinekens and Coronas were set up in a copper mini trough of ice on a silver tray were made ready. Cokes and a few other soft drinks were made available. 

Sam and Pamela kept offering their help, but Puck quickly stopped them. “If you go anywhere near Mercedes’ kitchen before she has called for us, it won’t be pretty. Finn did it once in high school…she was making us brownies and I guess he thought if he helped it would hurry her up or something. She threw a cutting board at his head. It was one of those heavy marble ones you can use for baking and shit too. We’re gonna wash out hands and be ready to move at a moment’s notice if she calls us to come do something, but other than that we’re gonna stay our happy asses out here.”

Less than half an hour Mercedes voice drifted through the downstairs, hearable over the TV, but not harshly loud. “We can eat.” 

“Oh thank God.” Pamela breathed. At the looks from everyone else she shrugged. “What? It smells frigging amazing and I’m hungry enough to knaw off an arm.”

Sam was hungry, yeah, but he was in a hurry because he wanted to see his woman. Entering the kitchen, he crossed the pretty travertine tile floor to wrap Mercedes in his arms. Damn she is looking adorably sexy in those tiny shorts and that cute little tank top. Sam thought to himself. Since they were in a fairly crowded room, he let a long, strong hug do him for the moment and released her to finally look over the food she had prepared. “Well Damn Darlin’ you sure as hell know how to lay out a spread fit for a king.”

“First time cookin’ for my man. Had to make sure I put my foot in it as Grand’Mere would say.” She told him leaning up to give him a chaste kiss. 

Two salads, three kinds of roasted veggies, three side dishes and more fried shellfish than one could shake a really big stick at were arranged on the center island. There were bowls by the salad, the reheated macaroni and cheese and the creole shrimp and jasmine rice, there were small plates next to the roasted vegetables and big plates that could hold the dirty rice and seafood. Deja made sure to get at the end of the line and after everyone had everything they wanted or needed she covered the serving bowls, dishes and platers before taking her food and joining her friends. As soon as everyone was seated and had their preferred drinks in front of them, Tank led them all in thanking the Lord and the chef for their food. Then they dug in. 

Trigger took his first bite and groaned, “Sam, man I know you are in love with her, but I’m sorry man, I’ve gotta make Mercedes my wife. Oh my God these crawfish are so good it’s like God put them here for me and for you.” 

“Around the table there were a million words of agreement and even more effulgent praise. Sam had gotten a little bit of everything offered including all the different kinds of shellfish. He’d been a good boy and started with the salad that had all the colors of bell peppers and olives. At his friend’s reaction to his first taste of Mercedes’ fried crawfish, Sam emphatically shook his head. “Hell no man, Mercedes is mine. She’s gonna marry me and I already have the ring and everything.” He said without thinking as he devoured the amazing salad. Mercedes blushed almost visibly and giggled a little, though she thought that everyone else was too busy eating to notice Sam’s slip up.

There was laughter and conversation, but only after everyone had at least tasted everything Mercedes had prepared for them. Toni told Mercedes that everything was perfection and she and Tank hadn’t eaten that good since their grandmother had been killed when the levies broke. After everyone had cleaned their plates, twice in the cases of Sam, Trigger, Slick, Santana and Puck and three times for Tank, they were too full to have dessert…so instead they headed into the great room and watched some TV. The rest of the evening went by very quickly. Pamela and Deja had bonded very well, so Pam when home with Deja. Once the house was cleared of everyone that wasn’t staying there overnight, Sam, Trigger and Puck handled cleaning up the kitchen and dining room. “You know that you told Sexy Mama about the ring already…right?” Puck asked as they were wiping down the counters. 

Sam nodded. “I’m still gonna stick to the plan for dinner tomorrow…but I think I’m gonna ask her tonight. I know she is showing how much she trusts me by letting me sleep in her bed while we’re here…but it wouldn’t feel right if she didn’t know how committed I am to her.” 

Puck nodded. “Good.” 

The three men made short work of loading the dishwasher, hand washing everything that either couldn’t be put in there or wouldn’t fit. They swept the floors and made sure that all the leftover were put away before splitting up and heading to their respective bedrooms. When Sam entered the master suite, Mercedes was in the shower. Sam went to his luggage and quickly found the ring that Pamela had tracked down for him. On Monday morning, he had risen very early and flew to the Pacific Northwest to buy the ring as soon as the antique and jewelry store opened. Thankfully that meant that when Mercedes stepped out of the bathroom wearing a beautiful lavender lace and satin nightie and matching boy short panties, Sam was sitting on the bench at the foot of her bed holding a navy blue velvet box.

“Sam…” Mercedes breathed quietly.

“Mercy, it’s beautiful how well you trust me to keep my word. And don’t worry. I will definitely be keepin’ my word. After all my word is my bond. Still before we sleep together, even just the textbook definition of the term, I want you to have this ring. I know, you’ve already said that you’re marrying me…but can we make it official?” He slid down onto one knee offering Mercedes the open ring box. “Mercedes Josephina Jones, I love you more than Spock loved Nyota. I love you more than Jake loved Neytiri. I love you more than Anakin loved Queen Amidala. More than Han loved Leia, more than Wesley loved Princess Buttercup… will you do me the honor of walking this ‘tedious journey’ with me for the rest of our days?” 

“Oh God Sam, yes, of course. And Sam, I just want you to know that I love you more than Jadzia loved Worf or Willow loved Tara or Zoe loved Wash or Juliet loved Romeo.” She told him as she crossed to him and knelt with him hugging him to her tightly. The hug grew into a kiss. The kiss turned from innocent to heated quickly and only deepened from there. Sam’s entire body was panting with want for the beautiful woman in his arms, so he knew that it was imperative that he took a step back. 

He pulled the ring for the safety of its box. The ring was a platinum, two and half carat Forevermark by DeBeers diamond ring the company called its Caress engagement ring. The ring seemed perfect for Mercedes. The large almost flawless and completely bright solitaire diamond of the Caress ring seemed to be being affectionately held by the encircling pavé studded platinum in a gentle embrace. The contemporary design delicately embraced the amazing solitaire whilst reflecting Mercedes’ perfect balance of power and grace. He slid it onto the third finger of her left hand and was happy to find that it was just snug enough that there was no way it could accidentally come off, but not so tight that it would hurt her. 

“Sam, that’s the ring I saw years ago.” She whispered as she stared at it for a long moment. She took a deep breath and shooed him towards the shower. “Go, get ready for bed then come back so we can celebrate.” She commanded. Sam moved quickly to do her bidding, not wanting to gone from her presence long and definitely motivated by the promised celebration. While Sam was in the shower, Mercedes got things ready. Since Sam had mentioned wanting to move forward to hand jobs, she had done tons of research. She reached into the night stand and pulled out a small vibe and a bottle of lube that smelled of sandalwood. 

When Sam returned to the bedroom, freshly showered, shirtless and drying his hair with a hand towel, Mercedes was lying on the bed waiting on him. Crossing the room Sam pulled Mercedes to her feet and they started to kiss and hug and just revel in being together again. Six days and five nights would be the longest they’d been physically together and they were both determined to enjoy every single second of it. Sam’s skilled hands soon had Mercedes back arching into the kiss. She came very close to cumming more than once just from Sam’s crazily, amazingly good kisses and the anticipation of what she had planned. She had researched very carefully what she wanted to be able to do to him. Maybe that research had introduced her to a part of the net, she had previously avoided…but still it was only for research purposes.

Mercedes grabbed him by the hips and moved him in front of the bench. She put the lube and vibe down before taking her place on the bench, facing his crotch. Mercedes squirted a little bit of lube in one hand before palming the subtly shaking mini vibe. Gathering her courage, she gently pulled Sam’s both his dick and his balls through the front flap of his pajama pants. She reached one hand beneath his scrotum, and gently tickled his balls, while her other hand gently petted the top of his cock. Sam began to purr. She closed her top hand around his shaft, and stroked the length of it while her lower hand continued to massage his testicles. After a few back and forth strokes, she added a twisting motion to the shaft stroke, with an especially strong twist each time she crossed the rim of the cock head. That move was more than Sam could handle, and it had him shuddering and twitching. She didn't want him to cum too quickly; she was enjoying it too much! Mercedes truly understood what Sam had meant about how bringing her pleasure had brought him pleasure too. She shortened her stroke and concentrated on the shaft, avoiding the sensitive head and rim on most of her strokes. Every five or six strokes, though, she gave his rim under the head of his cock the full twist treatment. According to her readings, it was supposed to drive him crazy!

Mercedes kept up this rhythm for what she estimated was about ten or fifteen minutes. She really couldn’t wait any longer, she wanted to see him shoot off. She lengthened her stroke again to include his rim on every pass, and he started to go crazy again. "Cum for me, Sam," she said, in her sexiest possible voice. "See my thighs? My chocolate brown thighs? I want you to cum all over them." She'd read that line in one of the fictional portrayals of hand jobs she’d read and found that it had excited her so much she had made a point of remembering it. That was all it took; with the very next stroke, Sam blasted off and drenched her thighs with his thick, pearly cum. She continued to hold onto his cock, massaging it while it softened and shriveled. 

When he got his breath under control and his pajama pants returned to their proper position, Sam knelt at her feet and cleaned her thighs off. “Thank you Darlin’ that was so good.” He told her before he captured her lips with his own. “Ummm…Darlin’, can I please spread these pretty chocolate thighs?” 

Nodding quickly, Mercedes gasped at the feeling of Sam’s calloused fingers gently parting her knees and spreading her thighs. She had a moment of embarrassment when she thought of how much of her natural lubrication had flooded out of her as the streams of his hot, pearly cum had drawn milky stripes against on her brown thighs. Seeing him standing over her, his hands fisted at his side his face a study in the intense physical pleasure her hot, soft little hands had given to him. Sam’s fingers slid up the smooth, hot flesh until he had enough room for his head. Taking a long, slow, deep breath, Sam inhaled the wonderful, musky, vanilla, apricot, sandalwood and some indefinable scent that combined to feel, smell and scream MERCEDES and Happiness and Home. He pressed a tender kiss to the soaking wet gusset of her lacy panties. Standing quickly, Sam took his fiancée’s hand and pulled her over to the beautifully decorated bed with its mountain of plush pillows. 

He held the covers up so that she could get in and he joined her in the smooth, soft sheets. Sam’s kisses quickly had Mercedes moving back towards the level of absolute bliss she’d been nearing just from Sam’s hands on her legs and his lips pressed against her panties. As they kissed, Sam played with Mercedes lace covered breasts until her back arched and she was moaning into his kisses. By the time one of his hands slipped down her the soft, slightly spongy field of her stomach and slipped into the lacy boy shorts she favored sleeping in, Mercedes was already dangerously close to the edge of abandon. “Mercy, Baby, can I play with your pussy?” Sam wrenched his mouth back to ask. “I love that you left some hair right at the top, but are completely bare everywhere else…is it bare everywhere else? Don’t answer that, just tell me that I can find out.” 

“Please Sam.” Mercedes whimpered. “You can do whatever you want.” She moaned. 

Sam shook his head teasingly drawing his lips back and forth against her soft skin. “Oh no Baby…I can’t do what I want just yet. Until you’re wearing the other ring to that set, I can’t slip my dick into your hot little pussy and fuck you until your screams are echoing off every wall in this house. I can’t make you a woman until you’re officially in the sight of God and man, MY Woman. But, oh Darlin’, you have no idea how badly I want to.” He muttered against her lips. “Now say, please Sam, use your fingers to explore my pussy.” 

Mercedes nodded and repeated quickly, “Please Sammy. Oh God please, use your fingers to explore my pussy. Please make me cum.” 

“Good girl.” Sam chuckled darkly. He allowed his fingers to continue their decent into Mercedes pleasure center. As he’d suspected, other than the tuft of hair centered on her mons, Mercedes’ pussy was completely without hair. “Oh, I like this Darlin’…you feel so good…so hot and so wet. I know I’m gonna have to wait another nine months or more before I can be inside you for real…but thank you so much for allowing me this pleasure.” Sam splayed three of his fingers over Mercy’s pussy inside the confines of her panties. Using the center finger, Sam circled her clit while the other two gently spread her nether lips. He was patient, building her up and then letting her calm over and over again before he finally pinched her clit between his two resting fingers, flicking it over her clit until she screamed out and her whole body convulsed. “That’s it Mercy, I want to taste you…cum all over my fingers so I can taste you.”

It took a lifetime and a half for Mercedes to finally stop writhing and screaming out as Sam played her body like a fiddle. Finally just as she had calmed down enough to be able to open her eyes and look at her fiancé, Sam gently pulled his hand from her panties, the evidence of her bliss all over his fingers. His eyes stayed locked on her face as he brought his wet fingers to his mouth and licked them completely clean. Mercedes eyes slammed shut as she was rocked with such a strong aftershock it almost qualified as a brand new series of orgasms. The intensity of their passions exhausted the two lovers and they fell asleep wrapped around each other. 

The next day Mercedes took Sam around to see all the places that she and Santana called their own. The campus of UCLA, their favorite ‘let’s treat ourselves’ restaurants. The place where they had gone to celebrate Mercedes’ record deal and several other momentous occasions. The Studio where Mercedes records her tracks, everywhere that meant something to the Diva. Then the whole group, minus Santana who had classes, had lunch together at BLD restaurant on Beverly Boulevard, Mercedes insisted on treating them all to the lunch, so Sam treated them all to one treatment at the spa they had appointments for the next afternoon. They spent the afternoon chilling and laughing together at Mercedes’ place they were joined by Santana and lost Kurt, Pamela and Deja as they needed to take care of some things for the coming awards show. As afternoon turned into evening, Sam and Mercedes left their friends to their own devices and showered and changed to make their dinner reservation. 

Since Sam had actually planned to use the dinner date to propose, he’d almost made the reservations for Spago again…to remind Mercedes of their first official date. In the end however he decided to take her to a restaurant she wanted to go to, but had yet to make the time to take herself. A French restaurant named Patina. They were happy to see that they were able to just go and have a nice dinner without being hassled by paparazzi or entertainment journalists. They even managed to sneak in a movie, though they were a little overdressed for that kind of theater. They returned to Mercedes’ house and fooled around until they were both completely sated. 

Friday was spent relaxing before they all showered, dressed and headed to the Peninsula Hotel and their world class spa. Everyone had at least one treatment, be it a massage or a mani-pedi. Mercedes and the girls almost all opted to have facials and body scrubs as well. They left refreshed and Sam decided that since Mercedes had fed them so much since they’d arrived he would treat them all to dinner at the Hotel’s lounge-type restaurant. Saturday, the whole house was a bundle of activity. The Kids Choice Awards was a fun event. Since the participants were often covered in the network’s signature green ‘slime’ no one wore anything they weren’t comfortable tossing in the trash can after wards. That held true for both Mercedes and Sam that night as well. Mercedes Jones kept it simple after she showered, moisturized and donned a pretty set of black and white lace lingerie she pulled on a pair of well fitting, artistically distressed straight leg jeans that she tucked into her black leather riding boots. She slipped into a pretty white, Egyptian cotton scoop neck tee and a tailored black jacket that looked simple and yet fashionable. She accessorized it with a pair of platinum hoop earrings and a long jet bead necklace. She headed downstairs letting Sam have the bathroom while Deja did her hair in large waving curls and gave her a simple, natural evening look with brightened lids and shiny lips. 

By the time Deja was finished with her, a freshly showered and shaved Sam joined them in the living room. He looked cute and casual in a black fitted vee neck shirt, some perfectly fitting jeans and a pair of clearly beloved cowboy boots. They were escorted by Puck and Tank and left the rest of their friends to enjoy the evening. Mercedes’ ring was spotted in less time than she or Sam thought humanly possible. “Mercedes, Mercedes…is that an engagement ring?” was shouted at her more than once as they walked the ‘orange carpet’ hand in hand. The world looked on entranced as Sam lifted her left hand and gallantly kissed the ring. 

By the time they had each won one and lost one of the two awards they were nominated for, a small antiques and jewelry store in Seattle was becoming a household name, for at least a little while, as the proprietor was finally able to tell the world about the famous musician that had searched and searched for a perfect vintage engagement ring for the love of his life. While he wouldn’t share with them how much Sam had paid for the ring he did tell them that when the ring had originally been designed it would have sold for around forty to forty five thousand dollars. He told them of the size, cut and clarity of the center stone and more importantly of the love that had shone in Sam’s eyes when he purchased it. 

Their relationship was dissected by the experts and picked apart by fools, but neither Sam nor Mercedes cared at all what those who didn’t know them thought. They had called both sets of their parents and Mercedes’ grandparents before they had left Mercedes’ house for their dinner at Patina and shared their news. Their families were all ecstatic and wished nothing but the best for them. Her mother was already asking Mercedes if she would be okay having the wedding in New Orleans, since her GrandDaddy was a lot more spry and since her Grand’Mere and, therefore her, Grand’Pere were not able to travel well or easily. His father already asking Sam if he would like him to start designing a place for them where they can build their lives together. Their siblings were all truly happy as were their friends and camps. While their families and their ‘camps’ were unified in their support of the couple, their fans were divided. Sam’s female fans hated Mercedes. Her male fans hated Sam. Sam’s male fans could all agree that they could see the attraction, an attitude that held true even in those who said that they shouldn’t be allowed to marry any more than two men should. Mercedes female fans were happy for Their Diva, though the more they found out about Sam the more they tended to think of him as a bit of a dork. 

The blogosphere was alive with discussions of when Mercedes would begin to show since, according to a whole bunch of people who didn’t actually know either of them, she had to be pregnant for them to move that fast. There were discussions of whether they would even make it to having a wedding and then further discussions about what it would be like if they did actually get married. All over Nashville, LA and in every major city in Ohio, wedding vendors were hoping and praying they would be the one to get the call. Sam and Mercedes…they just enjoyed the time they had together, until Sam had to fly back to Nashville that Monday.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)

Whatever Will Be Will Be  
Chapter 10

 

The Jones Family Residence   
Friday, May 1st, 2020  
622 Mulholland Dr.  
Lima, OH 

Alfred Jones was a man who loved his family. He was a man who was truly proud of both of his children and his beautiful wife. But there were times, rare though they were, that he wished his wife had an entirely different rearing. She had grown up in a world where debutant balls and engagement galas were a thing that were just done. No one questioned it, but anyone who was anyone had had at least one or the other. Constance Dubois had had both. Alfred decided that he had made it through that one long before he knew anything but ‘if you don’t know which order to use your flatware, just start from the outside and work your way in’, then he could certainly make it through his daughter’s thirty two years later. 

Because his wife had firmly and fully intended that Mercedes would have the same experiences of ‘ladyness’ that she had.

However, Mercedes’s beautiful soul wouldn’t allow her to have a debut when her doing so might hurt a girl she had come to care deeply for. Therefore, she was having and engagement party…whether she wanted one or not. With their daughter’s permission, Connie had planned everything down to the very last detail. She had even worked with Kurt and Deja to avoid making Mercedes have to visit Lima early for any reason. That boon was twofold. On the one hand Mercedes was extremely busy preparing for her three month North American tour. She was working on choreography and costuming as well as working on sets and lighting. On the other hand she and Sam were spending time together physically while she prepped for the tour and he worked on songs for his next album. 

They had been together nonstop since their families had gathered at the Evans Farm in Dickson on Good Friday. It was a time just for the four parents, three siblings and the affianced couple to get to spend time together and really get to know each other. Despite Connie’s offer to host, Montravius had convinced all the parents that they should do it at the farm so that he and Mercedes and Alfred if he wanted to could learn horseback riding. In the end he was the only one to actually learn. Mercedes preferred to ride double with Sam when she willingly went near a horse…Alfred just laughed at his son and kept both his feet firmly on the ground. By the end of the weekend Dwight and Alfred were planning a fishing trip, though both Mary and Connie knew their ‘fishing trip’ was actually just a chance to hit a casino somewhere without their wives critiquing their gambling strategies…or lack there of. Stevie was more than half way positive that he had found his perfect role model in Montravious and, after spending time with the surgeon, was determined to follow him into medicine. Thankfully in addition to being good at both football and basketball, Steven Evans was a dab hand at science and mathematics. Like his older brother, he had some problems with reading, a much milder level of dyslexia than Sam had been diagnosed with, but Stevie had been tested very early and, mercifully, had never had the same struggles in school as Sam. He was being offered scholarships to some of the region’s most prestigious schools in both academics and athletics. 

Mercedes and Stacey had likewise bonded. Though on the surface they were very different, the truth was that both women were younger sisters to older brothers and that wasn’t a state of being anyone who doesn’t share it could understand in the same way. Each loved fashion and music and by the time the weekend ended, they were each willing to take on the world to defend the other. Which didn’t turn out so well for Sam when he tried to prank his baby sister and ended up getting pants by his fiancée. Granted he got her back later when they were back at his home, orgasm deprivation play…or that was the plan, when he finally allowed Mercedes to cum, her bliss was so intense that she actually experienced female ejaculation…they both decided that they would call it a win-win. Monday Mary and Connie decided that the women wanted some time in the city so they left the men on the farm, sent Sam and Puck out to join them, scooped up Mercedes and Santana; who had spent the weekend with Puck since she didn’t have classes and wasn’t very big on the religious aspects of the holiday and she’d have had to pay at least lip service to those if she’d visited her parents; and gone shopping. 

Okay, so while shopping was done, the time was primarily spent hammering out what Connie and Mary would be allowed to do as far as planning the engagement party and wedding. They talked about budget and how many guests they would have and the bridal party and what kind of event it would be and colors and a whole host of other details. They decided against having a ‘theme’. Instead they would focus on making the day romantic and elegant, Once Connie was satisfied that she knew what she needed to do for her daughter’s special day, she then dragged her daughter to Beloved Intimates and forced her to register for a ‘trousseau’. The boutique lingerie store only had one physical location, but its entire catalogue was available online, making it accessible for any and all of the women she would invite to her bridal brunch…DuBois women never did anything as crass as a bachelorette party. So Santana whispered to the bride-to-be that she would make sure that Mrs. Connie never found out about the one she was already planning for when Mercedes tour hit Vegas. After they left there, they made their way to Neiman Marcus and Connie forced Mercedes, Santana, Mary and Stacey to try on dresses for the engagement gala.

After the big family Easter celebration, Sam and Mercedes returned together to LA. The ACM’s were celebrating their seventy-fifth awards ceremony by returning to LA. The ceremony was entirely too big to go back to where it all started at the Beverly Hilton, even with all the renovations that had been done in both 2006 and 2016, so instead they were being held at the Shrine Auditorium, the biggest of the old venues. Sam had looked amazing in his charcoal suit with a periwinkle tie and pale ivory shirt. The pictures taken by the paps and all the photogs clearly showed that his undying and ever growing love for Mercedes. The ‘Chocolate Diva’, as country radio liked to all her, looked exquisite in a periwinkle vintage Oscar de la Renta strapless, floral printed taffeta, mermaid silhouette evening gown that she paired with a pair of fuchsia, five inch, Louboutin sandals with a big flower detail on the heel. The color of the heels matched the preponderance of the flowers in the print on her dress. It was noted by all commentators that Mercedes looked just as in love with Sam as he did with her despite the fact that she seemed more reserved when it came to talking about her feelings than Sam. To cap off an evening that was already wonderful with his fiancée by his side, Sam got awarded the Male Artist of the Year, and the statue was presented to him by Garth Brooks. Sam swore he would remember that moment and Garth’s words for the rest of his life, “And the Male Artist of the Year is also the luckiest man of the year, have you seen that beautiful and talented woman he managed to convince to marry him in less than three months. That’s either being really lucky or very, very blessed. Sam Evans.” The fact that one of the ‘elder statesmen’ of the industry had given the relationship his seal of approval shut up a lot of people.

The LA contingent, along with their Nashville based counterparts had all arrived in Lima two days before the gala was scheduled to happen at the Lima Country Club. Constance Jones had invited every member of their large extended family, every one of the member of their associations, sorority and fraternity that they were closest to, all the former New Directions, both the originals and several of the set that Mercedes and Santana had helped mentor their first year after graduation, and the parents of the ones they were closest to. There were people from the industry and friends of Mercedes and Sam from their college years. Altogether the event began as a cocktail hour followed by a sit down dinner for two hundred and culminated in dancing until the club threw them out. Since Connie had never touched the money she had set aside for Mercedes’ debutant ball and a large portion of her college fund had remained untouched thanks to the scholarships she’d received and her own work ethic added to the fact that Mercedes and Sam were paying for the bulk of the wedding itself, Connie had been able to go all out. 

Somehow, Connie had surprised everyone when she almost managed to do the impossible. She was almost able to get Mercedes to come dressed in a not quite bridal gown. Okay so the Matthew Christopher floor length, white silk Mikado ball gown with its scalloped sweet heart neckline, and crystal and pearl embossed bodice was the very definition of a wedding or debutante gown, but since it cost less than a fifth of what Mercedes was planning on spending on her actual wedding gown, a vintage Ines De Santo that she’d known she wanted to wear for her day since she had seen lesser women not doing it justice on ‘Platinum Weddings’ when she was in high school and had never changed her mind, Kurt, Connie and Mary all agreed that wearing it wouldn’t be gauche or wrong. Mercedes was set to wear the long white gown until she happened upon a Zac Posen stretch satin, off the shoulder, amethyst mermaid gown with a modified pickup hem. She second she stepped into that dress she knew that it was meant to be hers. It hugged her curves beautifully and the bodice gave her a décolletage that would make men trip over air at a single glimpse of her, the accent pleats further highlighting her hourglass curves. They found her the most adorable black Manolo Blahnik sandals with a sensible, for Mercedes, three inch heel. Her look was finished off with the Stephen Webster ‘Fly by Night’ amethyst jewelry line. 

That shopping trip got everyone fully outfitted for the engagement party. Kurt was the one to find Santana a beautiful and unique J. Mendel, fuchsia and black luxury abstract-jacquard sleeveless mermaid gown styled with appliqué-detailed tulle bodice and softly pleated train at the back and a pair of Menbur 'Milan' satin sandals in complimentary shade of coral to the fuchsia. When she dressed for the evening, she looked fierce and fiery with her upswept hair and chandelier earrings…she looked like a movie star. But Mercedes redeemed herself by discovering Deja’s Carmen Marc Valvo beaded neck toga gown in a shade of green the company called jade but Kurt and Mercedes both though was teal. Mercedes had also found Stacey’s dress, a Kay Unger New York strapless, pink, floral print ball gown that she immediately purchased in Stacey’s required size four and sent it to her to have tailored. Stacey sent Mercedes and Kurt a pic of the shoes she found to go with the dress a pair of ivory 'Emma' crystal embellished ankle strap wedges and when she got dressed she looked angelic. 

Connie and Mary had not allowed the younger women to out dress them however. Mary had found a beautiful navy blue silk evening gown adorned with glimmering metallic dots that rained down the enchanting creation with its, cap sleeves, nipped-in waist and full skirt. The dress was accented with gold MICHAEL Michael Kors Evie platform sandals that gave her an extra three inches of height and highlighted the gold metallic dots on her dress. Connie’s La Petite Robe di Chiara Boni off-shoulder peplum gown was almost enough to out shine even Mercedes’ gown. It was a gorgeous shade of apricot with an off-shoulder neckline, asymmetrical peplum waist and crossover skirt that drew one’s attention to her Saint Laurent patent leather ankle-strap sandal, in a lighter shade of beige that the company called nude powder. 

Sparing no expense at all Mercedes had supplied actual hair and makeup artists that she brought with her from LA. The ladies had had a wonderful time helping each other get ready for the evening. they had arrived in the large family room of the Jones’ home which had been transformed into a make shift dressing room wearing their lingerie and robes with freshly washed and moisturized bodies, faces and hair. Mercedes enjoyed showing off the black silk with ivory satin accents kimono Sam had given her for Valentine’s Day. All the women were rather proud of his good tastes. After their morning at the spa, sipping mimosas while having their nails done, Mercedes was feeling rather cheeky. Checking to make sure that the mothers were still busy talking to Toni and Mercedes’ cousin Tasha…Bridesmaid number five, she turned to Santana, Deja and Tina, Bridesmaid number 1…right after Santana who was the Maid of Honor, and flashed them the lingerie she was rocking under her robe. The corset was black lace over lay over a pretty purple satin. Through careful application of fashion tape and the cut and quality of the design, Mercedes was confident that, though completely strapless and having a lower cut back, it would provide her the support she needed all night. Her tiny tanga thong matched the corset exactly. Of course, neither Santana nor Tina would be punked. Santana went first flashing a cute little strapless bra and panty set made of nothing but black lace and air. Tina’s underpinnings were more substantial since her C cups were both bigger and natural in comparison to Santana’s implanted Bs. Her navy blue satin and lace long ling bra and low rise briefs were adorable and made her skin glow beautifully. Deja was wearing a pair of black lace thong panties with a green ribbon threaded though the lace at the waist band and tied in a bow at the back. 

They decided to stop playing chicken before one of the moms caught them and said something embarrassing. There were three Hollywood makeup artists and three hair dressers and nine heads and faces to be done, once Pamela showed up after taking care of Sam and the guys. Fortunately the women and men who were hired to make them look spectacular were organized, efficient and talented. They took them in waves, Connie, Tasha and Mercedes were the first three in the hair chairs while Tina, Toni and Deja were at the makeup stations. Deja had to stop herself from evaluating the artists’ technique. She found herself using all her will-power to simply relax, and enjoy the treatment. Santana, Mary and Stacey were the next ones in makeup and Mercedes her mother and crazily similar…though much taller…cousin were still in the hair chairs. While the first three with their makeup already done sat on the couch and talked and channel surfed. Fortunately none of the other six had hair that took as long to style as the Dubois women did. Once they were finished, Connie gave them each an extra tip in the form of fifty dollar gift cards for the Olive Garden near their hotel. The women went upstairs and slid into their evening gowns and heels. By the time they got back down stairs the men were ready in their suits waiting on them, 

Due to his hectic schedule, Montravious wasn’t able to get home to Lima any earlier than Saturday afternoon with his date; a beautiful woman, named Annabelle, who worked for LifeLink, a nonprofit charity that worked closely with the transplant and medical fields. She was tall and thin, very light skinned, only a few shades darker complexed than Santana with a wealth of dark brown spiral curls that she pulled half up and allowed to flow down the back of her lapis blue Lauren Ralph Lauren one-shoulder evening gown. Connie was very polite to her, but polite didn’t change to warm until Tray explained that he had offered to help her get something appropriate, but she refused to spend any of his money. In Constance’s estimation, having a true sense of pride and backbone trumped being slightly undressed. Besides the dress looked amazing on her. Trey had also swung through and picked up their GrandDaddy Gerard. Mercedes paternal grandfather was still tall and broad and straight. In his black Armani summer weight tux, one could easily see the military bearing in his carriage though he had only served the four years he’d spent in Vietnam, getting out as soon as he got home, thankfully uninjured.

The hall was decorated in amethyst and crystal, with eggplant and ivory accents. Everything was perfect. The cocktail hour flowed seamlessly into the dinner. Constance had the bar offering a good selection of wines; including Mercedes favorite rosé, Veuve Clicquot Rosé 2013 from Champagne and Connie’s favorite summer white, Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume 2006 vintage from the Loire region of France. People were raving about the varied selection of cocktails which ranged from the Mercedes/Real Housewives inspired chocolate martini to the Sam/Star Trek inspired Andorian Ale which contained both raspberry vodka and Blue Curacao. There was also a wide selection of craft beers and liquor. The range of fun drinks was only exceeded by the number and range of offered hors d’oeuvres…fifteen including savory mini crepes, individualized shrimp cocktails with three prawns hooked over the edge of a mini martini glass of spicy cocktail sauce, bite-sized grilled cheese sandwiches with demitasses of tomato soup, chilled soup shots and mini BLTs. After the cocktail hour, rather than going immediately into the dinner, Connie scheduled some time for more mingling before the receiving line. Primarily it was time for Mercedes to introduce Sam to all of her oldest friends and him to do the same. 

All the original New Directions were present and accounted for, except for Finn who had enlisted in the Army not long after graduation and was stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany. He’d been able to get leave to return to the states and attend the wedding events, but having the month stateside in December meant that he was stuck on base pretty much until then. Artie and Sonja were both present and accounted for and so very happy for them…and told everyone that would listen that they knew when they had lunch with Mercedes on Valentine’s Day that she was completely in love with Sam. So Mercedes started telling everyone who would listen that Artie was going to be the first Tony award winner of the crew. 

Rachel had been invited and she attended with her new husband, Jessie St. James. She too was nominated for a Tony. After she had gotten herself blackballed for breaking her contract to go and try her hand at TV, Mercedes had called in a favor or twenty and gotten her a second chance. She’d run with it. Mercedes had been happy for her…until she realized that all the ‘sources close to Ms. Jones’ in the entertainment news were always Rachel…then they had moved from kind of, sort of friends to just plain acquaintances. The brunette, Broadway diva was very busy avoiding Santana and somehow missed Mercedes assertion that Artie was going to be their Tony holder. When Rachel managed to speak with Sam and Mercedes she went out of her way to stress, for their benefit, that Jesse was her husband. 

“Wow, Rachel, I didn’t realize that you were dating somebody last year when you broke my arm and stalked me to the point that my mother made me hire some security.” Sam said snarkily. Mercedes laid a soothing hand on his arm. 

Jessie, however looked Sam up and down before commenting, “Really, Evans, you feel that you can comment on the speed of the development of anyone’s relationship? Because as I understand it you and the propitious Miss Jones only met about six months ago and are already engaged. Rachel and I have dated off and on several times over the last ten years. There are those who would say that our marriage makes far more sense than your own.” 

Unfortunately for Jessie, while Mercedes was willing to offer Rachel the benefit of the doubt in deference to the friendship they once shared, she had never liked him at all. “Jesse, you two have only dated when Rachel wanted something from your presence in her life, be it trying to make Finn jealous enough to return to her side, or like now when she knew that I knew about her throwing herself at Sam and she didn’t want me to get yet another major life event up on her. I got successful for real first. First major career award…” 

“Oh please, you are still just a fat, lazy screamer masquerading as a songstress…you’re just making yourself seem even more pathetic by marrying the first man to show interest in you.” Jesse taunted. 

Jesse St. James was a very, very lucky man. Mercedes managed to catch Sam before he could punch him dead in the face. However, lucky though he was, Jesse wasn’t lucky enough not to be overheard by Blaine Anderson one of Broadway’s up and coming songwriters, who was also in attendance, escorting his mother in his father’s stead. “St. James…that is not how you talk to a lady, let alone one with a voice that has been favorable reviewed by every reviewer who has, very correctly panned your performances.” Blaine’s voice was scathing. “Oh and by the way, Mercedes Jones is not at all fat… she is curvy and to be honest the only woman I’ve ever been even remotely physically attracted to without being literally so inebriated that I was seeing double.” When Rachel took that as the insult it was meant to be and dragged Jesse away, Blaine turned his attention to Mercedes and Sam. “Mercedes, you look amazing, allow me to say congratulations on your pending nuptials. You know, back when Kurt and I were dating, I never realized that our mothers served on the Museum Board together.” 

“Thank you for helping rid us of Jesse St. Jackass…he has always rubbed me the wrong way. I cannot believe that Rachel was stupid enough to bring him with her, let alone marry the egg-throwing douchebag. What I am surprised about is that he decided to show his ass here tonight. Coming into my camp and showing his butt is a good way to get his ass blackballed.” Mercedes told him with a smile. “Sam, allow me to introduce you to Blaine Anderson, former competitor turned choir mate. Blaine, this is Sam and he is my fiancée, and probably would have been in the New Directions, but he went to Lima Catholic instead. Sam, Blaine went to Dalton Academy before joining us in the New Directions our senior, his junior, year.” 

“Oh Kurt’s old flame…Dude, thank you very much for at least telling that no talent, wish he was as talented as my beautiful fiancée, jackass off.” Sam said shaking Blaine’s hand. “He’d better stay out of my way, and I hope he doesn’t run afoul of Garth or Tim, both of them have nothing but good things to say about Mercy and her amazing voice. They hear the bullshit coming out of his mouth, they might just shove it back down his throat. You know…my parents almost sent me to Dalton Academy when we moved up here. But once my mom had me back home after the boarding school I went to before we moved, there was no way she was sending me away again. She swore up and down that my brother and sister behaved better for me than they ever did for her.”

Blaine’s mother, a tiny woman who looked far too young and beautiful to have a child their age let alone older, smiled serenely. “I can certainly understand your mother’s sentiment.” She told Sam gently. “Were it not for the fact that Dalton was the safest school anywhere nearby for him to go, I would have much rather kept my youngest son at home myself.” She looked at Blaine, “when you are ready to turn to producing rather than writing, please make sure that neither of those two impertinent human beings ever have anything to do with anything associated with your name.”

Soon they were joined by Mike who’d found Brittany on the floor and dragged her over. “Have either of you seen Santana?” Mike asked after he greeted them all and congratulated Sam on having gotten ‘a great catch’ in Mercedes. “And I’m not just saying that because she is my boss. She’s always been pretty much the best of us…well, as long as no one needed taking to the carpet.” He teased. 

“You know she always threatened to take people to the carpet, but she never actually did though.” Lauren Zizes said with a big old smirk on her face. “No matter how much someone deserved it.” Lauren had to pause while Mercedes gave her a hug and Sam shook her hand enthusiastically. “Wow, Chang…you’re looking pretty good. How much of that is really you and how much comes from the tailoring?” 

“You’re one to talk.” Mike shot back. “You’re looking pretty nice yourself.” He wasn’t wrong. She did look lovely in a hunter green, one shoulder Mikado mermaid gown that drew her in with an embellished waistline and softened her with a ruffle at the one shoulder. “Oh and congratulations, I heard from one of my clients that you’re the Heavyweight Champion in the WWE…that’s pretty awesome.” 

Those two wandered off leaving Mercedes and Sam to chat with Brittany. “So Brittany, I love that dress?” Mercedes spoke into the slightly awkward silence. Brittany’s dress was very pretty. The strapless, crepe, floor length sheath, had a slit in the skirt almost to the cheerleader’s hip. But what could have been risqué was made flirty and feminine by the designer’s addition of a flamenco type ruffle. Britts stood in full ‘display’ mode, showing off not just the dress, but the five inch crystal embellished nude leather platform strappy sandals. The ‘orchid’ pink of the dress made Brittany’s very tan skin glow with health and vitality. “Are you still cheering with the Dolphins?”

She nodded happily, “but I’m in the process of trying out for the Cowboys. If I make the squad, I’ll be in training to take over for the squad coordinator when I retire from the field in a few years.” 

“Oh wow, that’s great.” Mercedes smiled. She really wanted to be happy for her friend, but something told her that putting Brittany in charge of anything could only end in disaster. 

“So, Mercedes, have you seen the other you? She’s in a blue lace dress though, not purple satin. But I also thought I saw a third you too, her dress was a really cute navy one shoulder one…what did Mike not want to tell me?” Brittany sounded truly confused. 

It took every ounce of willpower that Mercedes had not to pinch her nose or reach out and snatch Brittany S. Pierce bald. She really hoped that the blonde was just so stupid that she really, really did believe that she and Unique looked almost identical, not that she was just so racist that all black people of a certain complexion became the same person in her warped little mind. “Brittany, you know good and damn…” the chocolate diva took a deep, calming breath. “Brittany, UNIQUE is here tonight she is the one wearing the metallic blue lace dress because my cousin Tasha, another woman who is not me but who is here tonight, she is wearing a one shoulder navy blue dress.”

Sam had gotten offended on Mercedes behalf. He had met Unique and while she looked nice, she wasn’t near as beautiful as his Mercy. Her cousin Tasha did look something like Mercy, they were kin after all, but not enough that someone who’d known either of them well would get them confused at all. “Oh, I guess he was trying to figure out how to tell you that Puck and Santana are together.” He tossed out there in the same cavalier way Brittany had sounded when she had blatantly said that all three black women looked alike. 

Brittany looked happy. “I wonder if they would let me join them tonight. I miss Santana’s lady kisses, and Puck is really good at-“

Mercedes cut her off quick, fast and in a hurry, before Brittany could say some nasty shit those three used to get up to back in the day. “I’m sorry Britts, but I think that this time, they are together…like a couple…like serious.”

“Oh…okay. Well Senator Joyce and her husband are kind of cute and he’s already goosed me three times.” Brittany said with a giggle. “That big guy you dated in high school, he came up to me at a thing we were doing with the Titans cheerleaders at St. Jude’s. He called you some really nasty names, so I told everyone how he’s the exception that made it a rule that all black guys have big cocks. Plus too, he gave me chlamydia twice. The Titan cheerleaders are all steering clear of him now.” 

“Uh…Thanks.” Mercedes said quickly, elbowing Sam lightly as he crowed, laughing loudly. “Gotta go Brits, my mom is gesturing us over.” She dragged Sam away and disappeared into the crowd. Upon finding Mike and Lauren talking near the bar, she poked her choreographer in the side. “Don’t you ever do that to me again.”

“Sorry, Merc…you know I can dance with Brittany all night, but once she starts talking…” 

“It’s like someone pounding railroad ties into your frontal cortex.” Mercedes voice was sickly sweet. “Yeah, and you just left me alone with her. Uggh…I swear she was smarter junior and her first senior year.” 

Lauren chuckled. “You tell her about Lopez and Puckerman? Boy Chang was dreading it.”

“Mercedes told her and she…just…she just…I think she really, like seriously, wanted to join in.” That kind of relationship was just not something Sam could fathom. He knew that most men had the whole threesome fantasy, but he’d always been taught that you couldn’t fully commit yourself to more than one person at a time without someone getting slighted. “Then it was if she didn’t even care just turned her sights on another couple to get in between.”

Mercedes patted his shoulder. “Just, try not to think about it, Sam. That way leads to Migraine Town. See, Brittany isn’t headache inducing in and of herself…it’s the flips back and forth in the conversation. Just when you think you’re good, you’re talking to a mentally challenged individual who has about the same ability to reason as a third grader, then boom you get slapped in the face by Lima’s answer to Jenna Jameson then she channels the Dali freakin Lama. It’s exhausting.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “A third grader can tell the difference between you and your cousin, let alone Unique.” 

Lauren shook her head. “She’s back on that bullshit. And I though the highlight of the evening would be stopping myself from twisting the midget and her boy toy into origami…now I can look forward to watching Unique finally losing it on Pierce.”

The conversation was ended when Connie materialized at Mercedes’s shoulder to tell her that it was time to lead everyone into dinner. That meant that the wedding party had to assemble for the receiving line. She and Sam would be the last hands shook before their guests entered the dining room. But the line started with Connie and Alfred, followed by Mary and Dwight. Then came the five bridesmaids and five groomsmen alternating by gender; Stacey and Slick, Tina and Puck, Toni and Trigger, Kurt and Deja then Trey and Tasha. The last people the guests came to before the affianced couple were the Best Man, Stevie and the Maid of Honor Santana. Once inside the dining room, the guests were met with several waiters holding purelle, to clean their hands. 

The dining room was a beautiful oasis of tastefully decorated round tables with white table clothes. Each table sat ten people comfortably and Connie had enlisted Burt and Carole to handle the seating chart. Where she could have done so herself, she knew that the three term state senator and his wife would care more about people having good dinner conversation and perhaps learning about each other, than she would. Connie preferred that people at her dinner parties make good connections. But she knew that both Mercedes and Sam would prefer things be done Burt and Carole’s way and they had been more than happy to do it. And if they sat themselves at the table with Teri Clark and Cedric the Entertainer, that was just fine too. The tables were preset with a silver service plates and flatware, along with the two wine glasses and a water goblet. The centerpieces were sterling silver edged square trays upon which sat short, stout crystal bowls of overly carbonated water. In the water floated ivory and purple tea lights and flower petals. At the very bottom of the bowl silver ‘wedding rings’ drew the eyes with their sparkle and reminded everyone of the occasion for the dinner. 

Once everyone had found their places, and the wedding parties took their seats with their dates at three tables at the front of the room, the wait staff appeared to serve the first course. Since the cocktail hour had provided the hors d'euvres the dinner began with a traditional formal first course. Everyone, unless they indicated a seafood allergy was served a lump crab cake served on a bed of micro greens and a dollop of Remoulade sauce. In the case of those with such an infirmity, they received three small, vegetable spring rolls with an artistically arranged dollop of duck sauce. 

The guest were all treated the entrée course next. With their RSVP , they had been asked to select one of three entrees: grilled angus filet mignon served on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes and topped with steamed local organic braising greens and the club’s special house made demiglace, local maple glazed, wild caught salmon served on a bed of mashed red bliss potatoes, wasabi cream topped with steamed local greens, or vegetable napoleon, a tower of grilled vegetables served on a grilled portabella mushroom stuffed with chevre, sun dried tomatoes topped with mozzarella cheese, a red roasted pepper, all served on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes, drizzled with a balsamic reduction sauce. The entrée was followed by the salad course, poached pear salad served on a bed of local organic greens, candied pecans, dried cranberries, chevre and the house’s maple vinaigrette. 

The dessert course was served almost family style. Platters of chocolate and vanilla éclairs, black and white brownies and cream puffs were settled on the table and people could sit and talk as they ate their desserts and sipped cups of Italian espresso or French-pressed coffee. As they’d eaten the ballroom had been prepared. While Connie had hired a five piece string ensemble to play during the cocktail hour, she had hired a DJ for the post dinner dancing. In the corner of the ballroom there was a lovely champagne bar with offerings ranging from sparkling cider to Champagne Perrier-Jouet’s pink champagne a delightful 2004 Belle Epoque Rose and everything in between. 

The event was perfection. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed every aspect of the evening. In fact, by the end of the evening, several of Mercedes’ industry friends were begging to know who had planned the flawless event. It was with a proud sparkle in her eye that she directed their attention to her mother. Constance accepted their praise with grace and aplomb. Of course, she knew that if they thought that night was something, they should just wait and see what she, Mary and Kurt came up with for the wedding. 

 

Mercedes Jones Residence   
Wednesday, March 21th, 2020   
La Habra Heights, CA

The next three months were a flurry of activity, practice, song writing and trust building for both Mercedes and Sam. They attended the Billboard awards, where they both took home trophies and Mercedes performed in a sexy little black, leather mini dress with black leather tap pants under it and cut outs across her shoulders and upper chest and down the sides of her torso. She accented the black number with a pair of red patent leather ultra-high heels that were fully comprised of a half inch strap across her vamp and another around her ankles. The performance was of her single ‘Shakin’ My Head’ and the whole crowd was lit by the last chorus. Sam played the guitar on her performance rockin’ an all black look that would have made Johnny Cash proud. The way they played off each other as Mercedes danced around and with Sam had their fans screaming for a duet. 

Their next public outing was when they attended the Tonys in support of Artie…who totally took home the Tony for Best Direction of a Musical, a feat almost unheard of for one so young. Mercedes looked understatedly beautiful arriving in a black, Zac Posen v strap, faille, mermaid gown that hugged her curves and looked beautiful next to Sam in a very traditional black Armani tux. There were those who condemned the couple for attending the event and supposedly drawing attention from the night’s honorees, but neither Mercedes nor Sam allowed that to bother them. They were able to see one of Mercedes’ good friends get a high honor and that was all they really cared about. 

Later that month, they attended the BET awards. Sam and Mercedes purposefully dressed in white and black. Sam wore a black on black suit while Mercedes rocked a white lace insert gabardine jumpsuit from Elle Saab and white Jimmy Choo ultra-high evening sandals. Kelly and George crowed about the look as the Fashion Police did their after show. The event’s host Steve Harvey had a grand old time clowning all the black men that were complaining that they had let Mercedes slip into Sam’s arms. Shane Tinsley, also in attendance though seated as far away as humanly possible from the couple, got the brunt of the verbal abuse. He had dropped the charges against Sam, hoping that it would lead Mercedes to drop her lawsuit…suffice it to say that that was a hope unrealized. She accepted several awards and then changed into a black Tamara Mellon patent leather-inset cutout kimono jumpsuit, and black sandals. The performance of her cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstitious’ was lauded for weeks and the presales for her concerts sold out ridiculously quickly when the box office opened for the first LA show two nights before the MTV Music Awards. 

Interspersed with all the awards shows, Mercedes and her crew worked their asses off to make sure that the shows they gave would be worth the price of admission no matter where the seat or the cost. She even wrote some new material to try out. It came as a huge shock when at the White House Correspondence Dinner, President Sanders himself had asked Sam and Mercedes if they would start off the national Fourth of July celebration with the National Anthem. Of course they agreed, so they culled out time in their schedule to practice until they felt it was the best possible performance that it could be. On the fourth, Sam stood beside Mercedes looking handsome in a pair of Columbia blue slacks and a white dress shirt, while his fiancée looked beautiful in an off the shoulder, ruffle top, knee-length dress in the exact shade of red of the thirteen stripes. Together, every word in perfect harmony, the delivered a beautiful performance of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’, with a full choir behind them that included Santana, Puck, Kurt and Quinn who lived in DC with her husband, Biff. 

After they cleared the stage, Quinn pulled Mercedes to the side. “Do you really think that it is a good idea to have Beth as your flower girl?” 

Mercedes nodded. “I know that she’s a little old for the tradition, but she is my god daughter, and I don’t have a niece yet or any second or third cousins younger than she is…Why?”

“It’s just that I was really looking forward to coming to the wedding, but I cannot have Biff find out about Beth…not now.” Quinn said imperiously. 

“I cannot believe that you actually married that man without telling him that you have a child in this world.” Mercedes chided. “But, you know what? That is your problem. I told you not to keep her a secret, Puck still isn’t talking to you because he thinks you’re ashamed of her…Come to the wedding or not…there is no way that this isn’t gonna eventually blow up in your face, Quinn.” 

Quinn at least had the grace to look ashamed of herself. “I know that…but Biff is getting higher up the food chain in Senator Graham’s staff and we really cannot have a scandal right now.” 

“Well then, stay home Quinn. You and I both know that Biff really only wants to be there because he hopes to do some back end fundraising for the esteemed senator from South Carolina…that’s not gonna happen in my crowd anyway. Even Sam’s crew is the more progressive side of the Country world and they think that the uber right wingers are as crazy as the uber left wing set. I told you when Shelby offered to make me Beth’s god mother for real, I would protect her from any and everything and that damn sure includes you. I have already asked her and she was so excited when she said yes. She is my flower girl…hell, Quinn…she’s meeting me in Chicago when my tour stops there. We already have her several appointments to find her dress. She is me and my future husband’s friend’s pride and joy and will probably be my actual soul sister’s stepdaughter. I’m not hurting her to save your fucked up excuse for a marriage.”

Quinn looked like Mercedes had slapped her, but there was no way that Mercedes was backing down. “I guess that we’ll just be unable to attend.” 

“Or you could grow a backbone or a conscience or lady balls or whatever the hell you need to grow and tell your husband the TRUTH.” Mercedes said before she turned and stormed away the clicking of her stilettos on the concrete seeming to punctuate her words better than anything else could have. 

Despite fighting with Quinn, that weekend was a wonderful experience for Mercedes and Sam. They enjoyed some time alone, away from the hustle and bustle of their hectic schedules. And when they were strolling down Wisconsin Avenue and in the window Mercedes saw the perfect dress for her bridesmaids. She took a picture of the window display and sent it to her mother, Mary, Kurt and Santana. The four of them all agreed on the dress, which was a miracle of epic proportions, so she dragged Sam inside and in a flurry of texts got the measurements of Tina, Tasha, Stacey, Toni and Deja and ordered each of them one of the floor length, sleeveless, V neck, sapphire satin Theia gowns. The rest of the trip was quiet and they just enjoyed each other’s company. 

Once they returned to their homes, it was back to the grind. While Mercedes was getting ready to start her tour, Sam was working on new music. As he wrote and listened to demos, he found that he was drifting more towards the more mainstream, poppish side of country…he found it a little distressing until he talked to Puck and Dwight. “I’m not sure that I’m liking the new direction my music seems to be heading.” He complained. 

Dwight shook his head. “Sam, when you wrote your last album, where were you in life?”   
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. It was my second album and things were a lot better than they were the year before…I was relieved. I mean…when I was writing the songs that ended up being the first album was all about being broke and ending up with no future because I didn’t finish college and people with degrees weren’t able to find jobs so what hope did I have.” 

“Exactly and that’s the place inside you where songs like ‘Lightning’ and ‘I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive’...” Dwight counseled. “Your last album was a bit less depressing and the songs focused more on fun songs like ‘Am I the Only One’ and ‘Get Drunk and Be Somebody’. You were a different Sam at each of those albums. Now you’re a Sam who has found his other half. You aren’t going to write the same kind of songs because you come from a different place in time. You write from your heart…it’s what makes your songs so deeply connectable. It’s why your fans love your music…because you feel every note you sing.” 

Puck was less wisdom and more pragmatism. “Just do you, there are fans out there for every type of music, if you lose some, you’ll probably gain others. Besides if you don’t feel the shit you’re singing…ain’t nobody gonna buy it.” 

With their advice in mind, Sam returned to work with a lighter heart and wrote the songs that were in his heart. He spent two weeks in Nashville trying to stay out of Mercedes’ way as she finished up prepping for her tour. As soon as Mike and Santana gave him the all clear, he was back at her side and they stayed together until after the MTV Music Awards. Sam was there for the first night of her concert tour which opened at Staples Center two nights before. The opening act was a former Nick Teen star turned YouTube sensation who was finally starting to make it into the big leagues named Max Schneider. The mid card was split between several regional rappers, the mid-card artist for the west coast being Alexander Spit. Mercedes stage show was beautiful and showcased her vocals and her beauty at the same time. She had five videos that played behind her and her dancers as they all sang and danced beautifully. There were four big wardrobe changes and three quick changes. Sam watched in wonder as she danced in heels that would break a neck if she stepped wrong, and yet she made it all seem effortless. 

He teased her so bad when he read her rider. “Ms. Jones asks that the room be kept at a pleasant seventy four degrees, with a humidifier running for at least an hour before her arrival filled only with purified water. She ask that the rooms HVAC filters be HEPA filters. Requested food and beverage: room temperature ph-balanced water, green seedless grapes, seedless watermelon, assorted vegetables with balsamic vinaigrette dipping dressing, and peppermint tea with raw sugar, a new slip cover on any couch in the room, color not important, a brand new toilet seat installed…but please ensure that the seat covers are available as well, Charmin ultra-strong tissue in the bathroom,” he read the simple requests. “You’re a diva…where is the crazy stuff…the puppie hand towels, the four strong men to carry you in a rickshaw type dealy to the stage, the boat load of almond M&Ms with all the red picked out, the all white room with white noise being pumped into the room?” 

“Sam, those things are just ridiculous. If I dried my hands on puppies, they would be dirtier than they were before I washed them.” Mercedes chided as she allowed Deja to do her hair in big rolling waves with added extensions for more fullness and body. 

The show went off as well as an opening night could be expected to and the following night the show went even better. The night after the second show they chilled getting in as much quality time as possible. Mercedes’ did concerts on Friday and Saturday nights and on Sunday they walked the red carpet together for the MTV Music awards. They set the carpet ablaze with Mercedes was once again in white. But where the BET awards saw her in a cocktail dress, the Video Music awards saw her in a curve hugging Halston Heritage floor length sheath gown with a cut out at the shoulder and down one side of her back and a sexy split that few people would have put forth for her to wear. She paired the monochromatic dress with a pair of ultra-high blue and orange sandals by Sophia Webster with an outrageous butter fly detail on the back. Walking next to her Sam looked great in a navy suit that Pamela had accented with a silk tie that had both the colors of Mercedes’ intriguing shoes on a field of white. It was at the last awards of the season that the couple finally encountered the BS they had been looking out for. Miley Cyrus found her way to the seat emptied by Mercedes when she had to go change for her performance.

“Hey, you’re Sam right? Sam Evans?” she started the conversation as soon as she could. 

“Yup,” Sam returned kindly. “Nice to meet you, I met your Dad at the Ryman last year.”

She smirked. “That’s cool. I know that he still visits the Opry as often as he can.” Miley had worked very hard to maintain the slender to the point of boyish figure that she felt was her pride and joy, even after having her son, she’d dropped every ounce of that weight and thanks to a careful plastic surgeon she didn’t even have to increase the amount of clothing she wore to hide the scars from her judiciously preplanned c-section. That night she was rocking a barely there shimmery and sequins over illusion fabric dress that showed far more than it hid, including her sternum…though Miley did consider it to be cleavage. While Miley flirted her ass off, Sam simply chatted amicably. The pop tart had never examined her need to flirt with and attempt to seduce men who were in highly publicized relationships, but she knew that in her eyes Sam was far hotter than he had been when her father had tried to introduce them in Nashville the year before.

The show was doing a special tribute to Aaliyah that Missy Elliot and Timbaland had asked Mercedes to participate in. so rather than being in a wild flamboyant performance outfit, Mercedes picked a slightly somber Oscar de la Renta dress with a high low, fishtail hem and an abstract floral pattern on a field of black. She paired it with a pair of red patent leather peep toe pumps and had her hair down in a modernized version of Aaliyah’s signature side swept bangs look. Mercedes opened the set with ‘No One Knows How To Love Me Quite Like You Do’. By the end of her solo performance, most of the audience was enraptured by her adaptation of the early Aaliyah fan favorite. Then sang backup for the other artists asked by Timbaland, Missy and the Haughton family as different artists ranging from Missy and Ginuwine to Tori Kelly and Elizabeth Gilles each sang a song from each of her albums. Then Mercedes took center stage again as she was joined by DMX to perform ‘Miss You’. 

Miley tried to continue flirting with Sam as they watched the performance, only to find that once his woman took the stage, he became monosyllabic as he paid total and absolute attention to Mercedes. Hannah Montana’s alter ego cursed under her breath as she said goodbye to Sam before Mercedes could return and see her. She could only hope that she’d gotten filmed talking to Sam enough that it would cause some dissention in the fledgling, to her way of thinking, relationship. Before she was able to return to her seat, Mercedes came back onto the stage to accept the Best Female Video Moon Man for her ‘Shakin’ My Head’ Video.

Before they knew it, the night was over and Mercedes, Deja and Kurt were climbing aboard her tour bus and Sam was taking a red eye flight back to Nashville. Over the course of the next ninety six days Mercedes crisscrossed the nation performing in most major cities skipping only those states that had refused to stop selling license plates with confederate flags on them as part of the personality plates series. She also had tour dates in three Canadian cities as well as Cabo. Mercedes’ Toronto tour stop was actually one of the longest stops in the entire tour. She had to stay there longer to get the measurements done and the alterations begun on her wedding dress.

At least once every other week, Sam would meet her in her tour stop and spend a few nights traveling with her, loving her and making sure that she took care of herself properly without Santana there. Santana had given him a list of things he needed to do in her stead; to browbeat her into making sure that she exercised everyday she wasn’t on stage that night. To make sure that if she didn’t want to eat the selection of foods available she was served a salad and didn’t just freebase carbs. Sam found all of that kind of demeaning. He felt that it made Mercedes seem like she couldn’t take care of herself, but Santana had given him very clear directions and the one time he didn’t follow them, she found out somehow and when he got home, she was waiting on him on his porch…Sam had never heard such a wide range of curse words all strung together as he did that day. He made sure he took better care of Mercedes when he joined her every time thereafter. Santana would have gone on the tour with her, but she was in her last year of law school and couldn’t do anything but attend her classes. To help Mercedes, Sam and their mothers, she coordinated making sure that the wedding invitations were done and done properly. Much as she had done after the engagement party for the couple’s thank you notes, Santana ran a calligraphy sweat shop to get all six hundred plus total addressed and out by the first day of October. Mercedes and Constance had selected a beautiful layered invitation with a shimmering shade of sapphire blue bottom layer and printed dove gray colored top layer. The invitation came assembled with matching blue satin bow, Sam and Mercedes initials were intertwined in the top left corner and were printed in a beautiful French script calligraphy font. The set came with matching reception, RSVP and formal thank you cards and Constance had ordered a second set that Santana had used for the engagement party gifts.

During the second week of October, after her string of shows in the American heartland, Mercedes flew back into LAX for the civil suit against Shane Tinsley. The case actually went very quickly. Manny had gone for a jury trial and had Santana as his law clerk. Sitting behind him in the gallery were Mercedes and Sam, both sets of their parents, all three of their siblings and both of their full entourages. Shane was there with three lawyers, his family and a woman that he seemed to be touting as his girlfriend. It would have been over in just one day of testimony, but Shane demanded an impartial third party doctor verify her virginity since that was the corner stone of her case. But Mercedes and her team had been expecting that. Tinsley had mentioned it to his team’s offensive line coach within the hearing of one of the cheerleaders Brittany had be friended. Dr. Koothrappali made himself available to oversee the appointment. He made sure that the ‘ham fisted quack’, his words, Tinsley’s legal team had selected didn’t inadvertently change Mercedes status without her consent or knowledge. 

The second day of the case wrapped up by lunch time and the afternoon saw the jury deliberate for an hour before finding in Mercedes’ favor and awarding her the statute maximum of a million dollars. The judge had additional comments. “Based on the merits of this case and the fact that Mr. Tinsley actually went out of his way to cause the confrontation in which he willfully and maliciously slandered Ms. Jones, I believe that he should also be responsible for all court costs and Ms. Jones’ legal fees. Mr. Tinsley, let this be a lesson to you. Sometimes in life the other guy gets the girl…learn to live with rejection…it happens. And be happy that this case was tried here, Tennessee never passed any form of tort reform. A jury there could have made the punitive damages far heavier.”

The entertainment news community and blogosphere went crazy. The news of the confirmation of Mercedes Jones’ virginity along with the, not inconsiderable, sum that she had been awarded as damages for slander was discussed on every major news station and syndicate. But even the facts of the case, substantiated by two separate doctors weren’t enough to get an apology from Fox News. Several of their ‘Christian Right’ commentators stopped bad mouthing her, but that was a far as anyone on that station went towards being decent people. When Mercedes returned to her tour, she had four extra people with her. Puck, Trigger and Slick had gotten more than tired of Sam’s ‘moping’ as had his parents and siblings. Since he could write from anywhere, they joined the tour in Atlanta. Sam because he wanted to be where his heart was, Trigger and Puck because they couldn’t add a celebrity to Mercedes’ entourage without increasing the tour security and since Sam was already paying them to watch his back it served the need without causing harm to Mercedes tour budget. Slick was there for both reasons, though he stated the first one in such a way that it didn’t scare Kurt of with the emotional context. During the day he and Mercedes collaborated on their creative processes or toured the city they were in for inspiration. At night, he would often join the band with his guitar or sing love song duets with Mercedes for one of her two typical encores.

It was during a day off in Boston, that Mercedes found Santana’s dress. The ZAC by Zac Posen fitted, v-neck mermaid satin gown would be the perfect complement to the bridesmaids’ dresses without being exactly the same. The charcoal gray was darker than the gunmetal color Mercedes had originally thought she wanted, but not enough to be a deal breaker. Within an hour she, Kurt and Deja were back at the store buying the dress in the needed size. They shipped it back to Santana in LA themselves since time was beginning to run short and the dress would need alterations. They also found the perfect shoes for all the girls and sent them the particulars so that they could go into a store and purchase the Kate Spade NY charm glittered, bow vamped, silver, sling back sandals themselves. At the tour stop in New York, Mercedes and Sam went shopping with a definite purpose in mind. They had discussed what they wanted to get as their gifts for the wedding party and decided that they would get them things for the day, but that they would love and hopefully utilize forever. Plus Mercedes had received the first quarter of the judgement from Tinsley and decided to use that to get her girls’ gifts. 

Their first stop was Macy’s where they got a pretty little diamond border heart necklace and earrings plus an adjustable kids bracelet for Beth’s gifts. Then they visited Neiman Marcus, where they discovered a Burberry large check stamped sterling silver bracelet watch with a blue face for each of her bridesmaids and her maid of honor. She also found them gorgeous diamond drop earrings, however when they only had five pairs she started to despair. Until Sam noticed that they had a nearly identical pair of sapphire and diamond drop earrings and pointed out that the earrings would be the perfect way to add color to Santana’s ensemble. None of the necklaces there were anything even close to what she’d envisioned, so they turned their attention to the guys. Sam, way too quickly for Mercedes mindset, decided on getting them each a Burberry large chronograph watch with a steel gray metal band. They paid for their purchases and Sam dragged Mercedes to Tiffany’s. 

While he’d been looking around while picking up Mercedes’ Valentine’s gift, he had seen several things that he was sure she would love for her girls. Mercedes was pleasantly surprised to find that Sam’s memory and sense of jewelry pairing were both spot on. While they were there he found more things that he wanted to get to add to the men’s gifts as well. By the time they left there, even with the promised ‘accidental free advertising kickback’, they still left the sales person almost weeping and offering prayers for them to have a long, fruitful and prosperous marriage. 

It was also while she was in Manhattan that Mercedes found what she, at the time, thought was the perfect reception dress and the perfect dress for her Bridal Brunch as well. By the end of the tour, which she finished in San Francisco, she and Sam were tired, happy, and closer than ever. Kurt and Slick were actually still together, which not only surprised everyone but totally necessitated the shovel speech though no one told Kurt that it had occurred, just in case. They had taken care of every wedding chore the mothers had assigned them, including picking out which tuxes the groomsmen and Best Man’s would wear. The men would be trusted to pick out their own shirts and ties and shoes according to the restrictions Kurt made and emailed to them, but since the women’s gifts, their jewelry for the day, cost so much more than Sam’s gifts for the groomsmen, he kept track of the costs of their tuxes…he had a plan to fix the disparity later. They had decided upon and order the favors, sapphire and steel gray small keepsake boxes with a pound of praline pecans in a pretty blue plastic bag inside. Even after the guest finished their ‘touch of the south’ treat they would still have the beautiful keepsake box to remember the event by. Mercedes was completely covered fashion wise. The ceremony dress would be ready the day after Thanksgiving for a final fit, and for pickup three days before they were due in New Orleans. By working together with Kurt, Santana, and the mothers, Sam and Mercedes’ wedding was thoroughly planned and they were just living for the day they became husband and wife.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 11

 

3591 Paris Pike  
Saturday, November 28th, 2020   
Lexington, KY

Mercedes was very glad to be able to sleep in her own bed after coming in from her tour. But with only four nights between the last show in San Diego, and Thanksgiving, she didn’t get to enjoy the indulgence for long. Wednesday she, Deja, Toni and Tank flew to Nashville where the Jones and Evans families were meeting up to celebrate the holiday together at the Evans family farm. Santana and Kurt were returning to Lima to spend time with their families as was Puck. Toni and Tank had lost most of their family when they were teenagers during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The two of them had made it out of the city and never really looked back. However, they had both become members of the Jones family when Mercedes had adopted the cousins almost the moment she selected Antoinette to become her agent. They enjoyed celebrating with the Jones family because with Connie’s New Orleans upbringing and her ability to cook and Alfred’s ability to make anyone feel like they had known him forever, Toni and Tank felt right at home with the Jones. Connie and Alfred had flown down on Tuesday so that Connie could help Mary with all the cooking. Montravious had arrived early on Wednesday with his newest girlfriend a tall, thin plastic surgeon named Amanda who looked like she enjoyed the services of her business partners and fellow plastic surgeons just a bit too much. 

Sam and Slick picked them up at the airport and the four of them stay at Sam’s house, driving out to the farm early Thanksgiving morning. As soon as they entered the farm house, Mercedes, Toni and Deja disappeared into the kitchen, joining Stacey, Mary and Connie in cooking the bulk of their dinner. Tank, Sam and Slick wandered around to the back yard where Dwight, Alfred and Trey were ‘busy’ greeting everything ready to fry the two brined and flavor injected turkeys that would feed the eighteen of them who would share the meal once Simon, Mary’s brother Ronnie and Dwight’s sister Barbara and her sixteen year old daughter Maggie, joined them that after noon. Simon, who had been an only child and a late in life baby, was always invited to the Evans home for any holiday. After making the mistake of not heeding an invite once, he never missed another one. The women worked like a well-oiled machine and by two o’clock, just an hour after Sam’s aunt, cousin and uncle arrived and were introduced to everyone, thanksgiving dinner was on the table. 

In addition to the two turkeys, there was a large honey baked ham, macaroni & cheese, collard greens, spinach, jambalaya, green beans, tomatoes and okra, green bean casserole, rice, turkey mushroom gravy, cornbread dressing, both kinds of cranberry sauce, whole and jellied, cornbread and yeast rolls. For dessert the ladies made two German chocolate cakes, two red velvet cakes, a carrot cake and several pecan and sweet potato pies. The family and friends ate and talked and made merry well into the evening. In fact it was after midnight when Sam, Mercedes and their crew headed back to the city loaded down with leftovers. The next morning the women got up to hit the ‘Black Friday’ sales. The date had once again regained significance after retail chains had stopped opening on Thursday evenings in two thousand and eighteen when there’d been a major stampede at a Target and twenty five shoppers were killed. While the women shopped their excess calories from the day before away, Sam and the rest of the guys headed back out to the farm and helped Dwight and Stevie with all the business of having a farm to get in some exercise. 

Dwight and Alfred pulled Sam to the side and explained that the next morning they wanted to take him and Mercedes on a road trip. Sam could do nothing but agree and after spending a day with the mothers who were both in full on WEDDING mode, Mercedes couldn’t wait. Alfred had rented a Lincoln Navigator when he and Connie arrived at BNA, so he and Dwight drove into Nashville to pick up Sam and Mercedes. The couple was ready and waiting for them despite the fact that it wasn’t even seven o’clock when Dwight texted them to let them know that their fathers were waiting in the driveway. Sam and Mercedes were a little bleary eyed, but thanks to their big ass travel mugs filled with bold Starbucks Sumatra roast coffee, they were awake and ambulatory. It was funny to both Mercedes and Alfred exactly how close to exactly alike Sam and Dwight were dressed despite the fact that neither knew what the other was wearing until well after they were both dressed. 

Both Evans men were in dark brown, broken in cowboy boots, well-loved medium wash jeans, thick flannel shirts on top of graphic tees; vintage Star Trek for Dwight and Batman for Sam; with heavy shearling fur hip length coats and cowboy hats. They were both dressed well for the weather as were their companions. Alfred’s outfit was just as warm, though not quite as suited to where they were headed as Dwight and Sam’s. He was wearing his favorite dark wash, relaxed fit jeans, a white collared polo with a thick cashmere sweater over it and his black leather thigh length ‘Nick Fury’ coat. Mercedes had been given no instructions other than ‘dress warm’. She’d taken that to heart and dressed in warm layers. Her distressed black leather and pointe knit leggings were tucked into a pair of Sam’s thick, athletic socks…which were hidden inside her calf high, black weatherproof suede faux-fur lined winter boots. She had on a white silk and lycra tank top on over her blue bra, and over that she wore a black cotton and lace camisole, a heather gray cotton turtleneck and topped that off with a black Merino wool V-neck tunic sweater. Her hair was parted down the middle but pulled back from her face with a black and silver starred head wrap. It was stick straight because morning had come far too soon for her to feel bothered with curling it. 

The drive took them a little over three hours and it was filled with laughter as Sam and Mercedes tried to get the dads to tell them where they were going and why, but neither Dwight nor Alfred would budge. Finally they pulled up outside five eighteen E. Main Street, to see Justice Real Estate. “Your Aunt Barb’s sister-in-law Alicia works here.” Dwight explained before they got out of the car. “A little birdie told me that you two were hoping to find a place between Nashville and Lima. Lexington is just over three hours from Lima and you just saw that it is about the same from Nashville.” 

“Whoa, Dad…thanks. We’d talked about what we wanted, but with Mercy’s tour and everything…we haven’t really taken the time to look into doing something about getting it.” Sam said as he reached over and took Mercedes hand in his own. 

“So did the little birdie…we’ll just call her Stacey to save time,” Mercedes knew that it had to be her soon to be sister-in-law. During the course of emailing and tweeting with Stacey, Mercedes had shared the dreams she and Sam had for finding somewhere that belonged to both of them and Stacey had been the only one she told. “Did she tell you what we were ultimately looking for?” 

Dwight chuckled. “My baby girl is good at a whole lotta things, Mercy, but holding on to a secret sure as hell ain’t one of them. She always has to tell somebody. Thank God she usually runs to either me or Stevie…we both know that loose lips sink ships.” He shook his head. “Granted, I did bring your daddy in on it, but we’ll just chalk that up to fathers-in-laws getting in some bonding time. Now, let’s get the lead out, we’ve got a ten thirty appointment and I sure do hate to be late.” 

They made their way into the real estate firm quickly and were shown to the office of Alicia Ritter by an efficient receptionist who barely goggled at Sam and Mercedes at all before ushering them to the correct room. Ms. Ritter was a reasonably attractive brunette of a certain age, with a ready smile and a quick grin. She introduced herself and, after telling Sam that the last time she had seen him, he’d been the ring bearer in Barb and her brother Mitch’s wedding, she congratulated the young couple on their pending nuptials. “Now, I’ve heard second or third hand what you two are looking for in your first home together, why don’t you tell me, in your own words, what you hope to find.”

In a fashion any Potter fan would say was just like the Weasley Twins, Mercedes and Sam laid out their desires for enough land to have a few horses, room for two or three caretakers for the house and animals and so forth and so on. “Ultimately, Sam and I will have a couple of kids and this will be their home. It will need space for our lives, our careers and our families.” Mercedes summarized honestly.   
Ms. Ritter nodded. “Okay, I have three properties to show you today. One is simply land. One has a few out buildings on the land and the final one is almost fully developed with a house and some of the outbuildings you’re hoping to find though you will need to build the others to suit your needs.”

They followed her to a seventy acre empty, well, it had been pasture land that was being sold off from another estate. “The good news about this property is that you will be able to build it to be exactly what you want it to be.” She told them as they looked around a bit. There wasn’t very much to see. The acreage was good real estate, but at two point five million asking price…with all the building they would need to do, neither Sam nor Mercedes were sure how they felt about it. 

When they were following Ms. Ritter to the next listing she wanted them to see, Dwight did raise a point in the build from scratch category. “Well, if you guys do decide to get that property, at least you won’t have to pay for an architect.” He was joking and while Sam knew that he wouldn’t take full advantage of his dad, neither would his father accept monetary compensation for taking care of his son and his bride either. 

“The next listing is absolutely beautiful a roughly sixty-five acre farm with a horse barn that currently has 8 stalls but could be finished out for a total of sixteen. There is a second barn on site which is a five bent tobacco barn with a wide aisle and poured concrete foundation. The property also boasts a pond surrounded by jumpable plank fencing, a five bay heated and air-conditioned equipment shed, and asphalt driveway.” Alicia told them with a smile. “The equipment shed could easily be converted to hold your tour buses.” She offered reasonably. 

As soon as they were back in the Navigator, Sam looked at Dwight, “guess you’d want to design the house for this one too?”

“Son, my ideas have ideas for either of those properties.” Dwight returned honestly. 

Mercedes chuckled. “At under six hundred and fifty thousand purchase price, I’d feel a lot more comfortable building on that one than the first. I wonder why the empty property was so much more per acre?”

When they got to the last listing, Mercedes asked Alicia about the difference. “All three properties aren’t just in different stages of development, they are in different areas of town. The first is in an area of town near the country club and there for the real estate as a whole is more expensive over there. The second property I showed you is in a far more agricultural area. The land while more cultivated, and definitely great farming land, it just isn’t considered ‘prime’ in the same way. This property is somewhere in the middle. This one is a real jewel of the Bluegrass! This one of a kind seventy five acre property is a magnificent estate that has just undergone an extensive restoration. The centerpiece is a seventeen thousand square foot manor house with six bedrooms, an enormous gourmet kitchen and butler's pantry, expansive master suite, elevator, office wing with three guest apartments. It has a very modern open floor plan with intricately detailed wood work, soaring ceilings, arched doorways, and hardwood floors throughout. You also have quite a lot of unfinished square feet under the house…an unfinished basement runs the whole length and breadth of the house. Even more there is a thirteen thousand square foot pool house which contains a heated twenty-nine x sixty two foot pool, two hot tubs, and huge entertainment area. You will enjoy the 4 car garage with two apartments above for staff or extra guests; a tennis court; and a pond that has a waterfall and three fountain accents. A twenty stall barn completes this fantastic property. Plus with the extra land you can easily build the out buildings that you’d still need.”

The last listing took a lot longer to complete the walk through of because there was just so much to see. The house was lovely with all the space they would possibly need. The master suite included his and her dressing rooms and suitably large walk in closets. The master bath wasn’t quite to their tastes, the floor was unheated Carrera marble and would not only be unpleasant on cold winter nights but was extremely high maintenance and the flooring wasn’t well matched to the rest of the bathroom. Sam and Mercedes found it invaluable to have Dwight and Alfred with them on the walk through. Dwight knew what could and couldn’t be changed quickly and Alfred, with his HGTV and DIY Network addiction, was really helpful as well since he was conversant on how long the changes would take and the rough costs. Such as replacing the countertops in the kitchen that Mercedes felt didn’t match the light cherry cabinetry at all or completely replacing every fixture in the two, matching, half baths on the first floor, or landscaping the garden which, though nicely large, was just a grassy area when they toured the house. 

As they walked through the pool house, Alfred pointed out a real concern for him. The pretty antique silver lever like door openers. “You’d definitely need to replace those door handles with something that a toddler wouldn’t be able to open if they have half a second where they can slip away from you.” Mercedes noted that the pool house locker rooms were well done and warm despite the chill and snow outside. The barn and paddock were perfect, however, according to both Dwight and Sam. They felt the same way about the equipment ‘shed’. Which while too small for the tour buses did have a nearby empty area that was the right size for them to build their ‘homes away from home’ a home of their own. 

Once they saw everything that the property offered, they returned to Ms. Ritter’s office. While in the car, the dads helped their children start the number crunching and pro and con analysis of the three properties. They called Nicolette and Sam’s accountant Bernice and had them quickly and quietly do the work of applying for a joint mortgage for the duo. Given their investment portfolio and low credit to income ratio, they were prequalified in the time it took them to make the thirty minute drive back to the Justice Real Estate offices. As soon as they arrived back in the office, they were able to quickly hammer out an offer. They went in at half a million under asking price since there were many renovations they felt were needed. Of course they made it contingent upon a ninety percent or above positive evaluation from a home inspector of their choosing. 

Whether it was because the house had been viewed more than twenty times but theirs was the first real offer, or just because the sellers were fans, they didn’t know…but the offer was accepted as written. Pending the home inspection, Sam and Mercedes had their first home together. They returned to Nashville in high spirits and on Monday morning, before Mercedes and her friends had to catch their flight back to LA, the couple and Toni met in Simon’s office and signed the prenuptial agreement they had hammered out with their attorneys while on tour. It was a very equitable arrangement that basically said that all intellectual property, from before or during the marriage was retained as the property of the creator and any joint assets would be liquidated and the proceeds thereof evenly divided in the event of a dissolution of the marriage. Other than actually getting it done, they were ready to be married. 

 

The Ritz Carlton Hotel  
Monday, December 7th, 2020   
New Orleans, LA

Constance Jones and Mary Evans had really, really had a blast planning the wedding of their children. So much so that they were almost sorry that it was time for all those plans to come to fruition. It was probably even more fun for them because they had only done the planning; all the hard decisions were left to the bride and groom. Budget, colors, theme, how many and exactly who to invite all the hard things were chosen by the kids. Sam and Mercedes even refused to allow them to pay for much of anything…that they knew about. They just got to play. 

The wedding was to be very elegant and very, very formal, with their careers, Sam and Mercedes could really do no less. They wanted their wedding reception to reflect the holidays, even though their location would never be a winter wonderland. The colors the couple chose were sapphire and steel, a unique combination that seemed perfect for them. However, both Mary and Connie quickly realized that with two such deep colors they would need a lighter color palette for accent, so they added platinum and silver in little places that would make the main colors pop. Mercedes and Sam had selected the favors that people would take away from the reception with them. But the mothers also knew that with so many of the guests coming in from out of town, they needed to do something a little special and very memorable. So Connie and Mary picked a lovely Harry and David’s gourmet picnic basket with wine in each of the guests’ hotel rooms. The baskets came with a blanket that could have been personalized, but other than making sure that the blankets were the right shade of blue they avoided the personalization as it would cause them too much work. The bride and groom were very sure that their mothers and entourages could handle everything, not considering the fact that their mothers and entourages were all a major part of the wedding itself, so the mothers hired a ‘week of’ planner, someone who could make sure that everything ran smoothly during the thick of things. 

They researched and hired LuLu Alexander, one of the best in the region, to handle the week of details. The baskets and hotel room arrangements had been delivered to LuLu and it was her staff that would make sure that the baskets would be placed in the rooms on the tenth before the guests arrived. The reception guest list had been dissected into seventy five groups of eight and meticulously and rigorously assigned to tables based on similar interests, jobs or hobbies. Both mothers had assigned that job to Simon, giving him copious notes on their relatives. Simon, in turn, had had two of his assistants dig through his industry ‘blackmail’ files, and put those together with Toni’s, added in the notes on the relatives and made sure that each guest or couple would be with a group of people they could have interesting conversation with and avoided putting any people with a history of conflict or negative interactions together. Mary had researched hotels and found several that would work well for their needs. She reserved blocks of rooms for the bulk of the guests at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside and another at the Ritz Carlton New Orleans. The information for booking at either at the reduced rate for the guests of the Jones-Evans wedding hotels was included in all the wedding invitations. The wedding party would be staying in fifteen rooms at the Ritz Carlton. Connie had looked into smaller, exclusive boutique hotels where Sam and Mercedes would spend their wedding night. LuLu had suggested the Windsor Court and Connie had agreed and booked them a Premium Suite on the Club Level. She’d set the check-out date for the seventeenth to give the kids plenty of time to enjoy newly wedded bliss. 

The entire wedding party along with Tank, Pamela and Simon, who were going to act as the ushers since Sam had wanted to make Tank and Simon groomsmen, but Mercedes wasn’t able to think of another woman she was ‘bridesmaids’ close to to join Pamela to even out the numbers, arrived in New Orleans and was escorted from the airport to their hotel by six members of the security firm Simon had hired so that Tank, Puck, Trigger and Slick could relax and be groomsmen and ushers rather than security. Check in was smooth as butter, because no one wanted a bad review from anyone associated with Sam Evans or Mercedes Jones. Since Mary had done the booking, Sam and Mercedes ended up in separate rooms. 

Though they had shared a room whenever Sam joined her on tour, the couple had gone no further than Mercedes’s comfort zone. The outer limit for them of modified second base, handjobs and fingerbangs as Sam called it…digital manipulations to exceedingly satisfying orgasms as Mercedes preferred to refer to it. While Sam pouted, Mercedes loved the traditionalism of it. She knew that he couldn’t see her the night before the wedding or on the day of anyway, so to her the two deluxe rooms were perfect. The bridesmaids, groomsmen and ushers were all in similar rooms except for Stevie and Stacey who Mary put into a double deluxe room in the hopes that Stevie would keep Stacey punctual. However the two sets of parents each had a nice balcony suite. It gave them space to stretch out while making calls, and it also let the men have room to seduce their loves somewhere other than a bed. The younger part of the wedding party would never realize exactly how lucky they were that the parents were four floors away. Santana and Puck and Kurt and Slick were bad enough. 

The crews’ first day in New Orleans was actually spent making the rounds and checking in with some local vendors and finalizing with others. Sam and Mercedes were the first to head out. They had an appointment at the Orleans’ Parish Clerk of court. Santana, Puck and Tank all accompanied them. They had to apply for the marriage license and to do so, they needed certified copies of their birth certificates, their social security cards, their drivers’ licenses, and ‘a signed affidavit witnessing that there was no genetic relationship nearer than fifth cousin once removed’. Sam made that joke four times before Mercedes finally punched him in the arm and told him to button it. The Clerk of Court seemed to agree and, though she couldn’t hit him, she took great pleasure in reminding Sam that he was in Louisiana, not Mississippi.

As the marriage license was being applied for, Kurt and Tina headed to Bee’s Wedding and Event Floral Designs. They were to make sure that the florist had all the flowers they had ordered. The first thing they checked was that he had the twenty five blue ‘Ocean Breeze’ orchids and twenty five gardenia blooms and for Mercedes bouquet plus one of each to be tied together to form Sam’s boutonniere. Tina carried with her the steel gray and sapphire satin ribbons that the florist would need to complete their order. Connie had had the thirty five yards of the exact right colors purchased to make sure that the colors utilized would fit the scheme perfectly. In addition to the flowers for the bride and groom, they also checked on the blue anemones for Santana’s nosegay and the magnolias for the other five bridesmaids’ nosegays. They were also to check to make sure that he had the blue hydrangea and Madagascar jasmine petals that Beth would be throwing on the specially made sapphire blue runner with steel gray edging. Magnus, the florist, also showed them centerpieces; one six inch Nikko blue hydrangea mophead surrounded by enough of the Madagascar jasmine blooms to create a two inch wide ring around the hydrangea presented in seven inch square silver cubed vases. “I’ve got about a million blue phlox clusters to go in the aisle stoppers. Darryl has the stands all ready to go.” Magnus St. John said with a wide grin. He even had Connie’s requested the heartleaf crambe to act as filler in the place of baby’s breath in all of their arrangements. 

Sam, Puck and Tank returned Mercedes and Santana to the hotel and drove to Andrew’s Welding and Blacksmith Shop to look over the hundred two foot tall fleur de lis shaped metal flower stands that the blacksmith and master metal worker, Darryl Reeves, had spent several months creating for them. Mercedes, Sam and each member of the wedding party would take one home at the end of the week, but that still left eighty that they were going to donate to the church. Mr. Reeves had also utilized his connections with the Louisiana Master’s guild to get the six hundred pewter fleur de lis place card and seventy five taller table card holders for the tables at the reception made at quite a reduced cost. The mothers were determined to keep all of those, though neither Sam nor Mercedes could quite figure out why. Mr. Reeves would be delivering all of his work to the venues the morning of the wedding. 

The mothers, Mercedes, and Santana had the job of meeting with the church’s wedding director and music coordinator. The four women decided on a divide and conquer approach allowing Mercedes and Santana to work with Colleen Maher, the music coordinator. Mercedes had a list of the songs she hoped to have played or sung at the ceremony. However the church had their rules and wanted the final say. “There was a time, as little as five years ago when no secular music was allowed at all, now we just ask for oversite over the lyrics to be sung in the sanctuary.” Mrs. Maher told them with a sweet, but steely, smile. Corinne Bailey Rae was going to serenade her friend’s nuptials with her love song,‘Like A Star’. That one was easily passed through. There was some back and forth about ‘In Love With You’ by Erykah Badu and Stephen Marley, that Jake and Marley Puckerman would be singing for them. Mrs. Maher couldn’t seem to see past the song’s original artists, but when she saw that the lyrics were completely innocent and just spoke of a love that neither singer would give up just to appease others, Ms. Maher finally gave her approval. ‘The Prayer’, which Shelby would be singing and ‘I Found You’ which Tamela Mann had agreed to do for the ceremony were both religious songs and thus no brainers. Upon getting their invitation, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood had asked if they could sing at the ceremony. Mercedes said yes so fast it would have made a head spin. Then when he told them that they wanted to sing ‘To Make You Feel My Love’ she damn near cried. Mercedes Jones loved that song in almost every incarnation. Tim and Faith were singing to them as well, but since ‘I Need You’ was less church appropriate, the older couple had offered to serenade the couple during their first dance. The trio of friends also met with the church’s organist, Jonathan Szymanski, who agreed that he would have no trouble learning the instrumental version of ‘Safe and Sound’ as the wedding party entered. Artie and Sam’s steel guitar player would be accompanying him on the soft and melodic entrance. He was already well versed with both ‘At Last’ and ‘A Thousand Years’ which were songs that they wanted him to play as everyone exited. Wrapping up, Mercedes was very happy that the programs, which had already been printed, would remain as they were.

In another office, Constance DuBois Jones was reigning as queen. “Now, as we agreed upon, here are the required fees and I’m happy to see that you got our donation of the two fully decorated Christmas trees for the front of the church.” She started sweetly. They had made the donations so that the church’s trees would fit the blue and silver color scheme of the ceremony since the guidelines they had sent her clearly stated they couldn’t change any of His Holy Name Jesus’ holiday décor. 

“We greatly appreciate the gift.” Elizabeth Broekman, the Wedding Director, smiled serenely. “This has been the first time that the church has had professionally decorated trees for the season. Dr. Jones, your mother and father have already spoken to Father Ignatius and he is quite looking forward to performing the sacrament for their Little Mercy. They are very proud of both you and your daughter.” She said affably. “Now have the bride and groom completed the necessary requirements?”

As she was the one carrying the bulk of the paper work, Mary was the one to answer the bureaucratic woman. She and Dwight had actually fought over using the church since the cathedral was what Mary considered ‘stupidly rigid’ in their wedding sacrament guidelines. They had been surprised to realize that Connie had been raised Catholic, but Dwight was happy as a clam that Sam would be marrying in a catholic church. Mary didn’t disagree with him, but even their parish priest thought the amount of paperwork they required was excessive. “Yes, here are both Sam and Mercedes’ baptismal certificates completed at six months old for Sam and at nine years old for Mercedes signed by the performing priest and pastor dated five months ago, Sam and Mercedes’ initial interviews with both our parish priest and Mercedes’ home church Pastor completed in May. Their completed pre-marital inventory, the certificate of attendance for the qualified online marriage preparation program, pre-marital affidavits, and certification from our parish priest that Sam and Mercedes completed FOCCUS training with him via Skype last month.” She handed the woman a whole sheaf of papers. Mary could have emailed all in or delivered it on a flash drive for the woman’s ease. But she didn’t. Mary really enjoyed the thought of the woman having to scan everything into the church’s system…hopefully by hand. 

“Oh, and here are the required certified copied of both of their birth certificates as well.” Connie added before the officious woman across the desk could even begin to ask. 

“Thank you and I received emails from both Father Mulcahy and Pastor Pinckney granting permission to have the ceremony here rather than at either St. Christopher’s in Dickson or at St. Paul AME in Lima. “ Mrs. Broekman told them with a grin. “I do still need to see the dresses. You received the guidelines for apparel for weddings here, yes, no?”

Connie just nodded. “Oui.” She whipped out her iPad and pulled up pictures of all the dresses. The Ines Di Santo, ultra-white Italian como shantung ball gown with off-the-shoulder sleeves and Baroque beaded appliques which boasted a sheer net of Swarovski Crystals across the neckline and corseted bodice that Mercedes would be wearing. The ZAC Zac Posen fitted V-neck satin gown in steel gray, that Santana would be wearing and finally the Theia sleeveless V-neck mermaid gown in lined sapphire silk charmeuse that the rest of the bridesmaids would wear. If the dresses were all shown on the models that the stores’ websites used to advertise their wares rather than the more substantially endowed women who would really wear them…that was neither here nor there; Constance had done as the woman requested. The important thing was that Mrs. Broekman signed off on everything before they left her office that afternoon. 

Slick and Trigger spent the afternoon at L&R Security, getting everything in place and making sure that the firm knew of the needs inherent with an event that would play host to so many A-list celebrities and their families. Mercedes’ record label was paying the company’s rather exorbitant fee to handle all the security for the wedding party all week, the security for the Bridal Brunch, the Groom’s Luncheon and all of the wedding activities on Saturday and the large DuBois family picnic that was being held the following day, though no one really believed that Mercedes and Sam would actually attend. Simon and Toni headed to the reception venue and walked through the timeline for set up and everything right down to the smallest detail, including having security walking the perimeter for the entire day rather than just during the reception as Dr. Jones had originally arranged. Only then did they sign off on the final contract on behalf of their world famous clients. They also double checked with the car service that was providing shuttles between the airport and the Hilton on Friday when most of the guests were arriving, and then on Saturday the same service was providing all the necessary transportation for the guests; to the wedding, to the reception, back to the hotel…all of it. The company had been recommended by the record label as well, though Sam and Mercedes were paying for that service. 

While the two, rather overprotective, managers made mincemeat of the coordinator at Southern Oaks Plantation; she actually had three fingers of whiskey when they finally left they had been that nit-pickingly insane; Tasha DuBois had popped over to the hotel, grabbed up Stevie and Stacey and driven to meet with the DJ Southern Oaks required that they used. New Orleans Party Sound did have good reviews online so they were at least hopeful. The three of them worked together with Marion Percival to create a music list that would please the Evanses, Sherringers, the DuBoises and the Joneses as well as all the friends and industry people that were invited to attend. Tasha asked if there would be a place where Sam and Mercedes’ stage musicians could rock out with any of their industry friends who might want to sing or whatever. Mr. Percival assured her that there would be no problem and he it would be no trouble at all to provide microphones and such. 

He showed them a slideshow he’d created just pulling images from the net including an image of Sam from the Grammys. “I had the idea because I remember watching the show that night, and the camera panned over the audience to show crowd reactions to Ms. Jones performance and thinking that Mr. Evans looked like he wanted to climb on that stage and propose right then. When Verity called me and told me that your family had booked the plantation for their wedding, it was easy to create this slideshow that showed the development of their whole relationship.” Stevie pulled out his phone and gave the man some at home shots of the couple that no one outside the family would have had access to. Of course Tasha made sure that he agreed that nothing but the public shots that were readily available to anyone would be used in the future if he chose to use the slideshow in his promotional materials. 

While Connie and Mary had given everyone else their assignments, Alfred and Dwight had decided early that they would handle meeting with the photographer and the videographer. They made the arrangements to meet both together. Christopher and MaryClaire Serio represented Bride Films, the videographer and Sarah Mattix was there representing her photography studio. The dads held their meeting in the M Bistro downstairs in their hotel. As soon as the vendors were seated, Alfred launched right in. “Alright, let’s get thing straight right from the get go. We’re going to need SEVEN full albums and the digital versions of the videos…plus I personally want a copy of the video in every format you can think of. This is not the usual setup. You do not and will not own the copyright of the pictures. You will not be allowed to retain the negatives or raw footage. Now if you can do that then you are the right people for us. If not then we can and will make an appointment with Studio Vieux Carre and Arte De Vie for this afternoon. Any questions?”

“Umm…just why do you need so may full albums?” Christopher Serio asked confusedly. His bride of six years poked the hell out of him for asking that. She looked even more embarrassed because it wasn’t their charge. That directive pertained to Sarah, not them. But in Christopher’s mind their directive mad a lot of sense. With the way technology had evolved having the video on multiple medias was just good planning.

Alfred laughed but decided to answer the rather nosy question. “It’s a tradition in my wife’s family, the   
DuBois’s, to give the grandparents and parents copies of the wedding album. Connie, my wife, decided that we would also give my father a copy as well. Plus the kids are on the road. I want one for each of them to have in their tour buses as well as one for their home.” 

Mr. Serio looked as if he got it and he turned the question asking over to his wife. “Since there would be nothing for our portfolio from this experience, would Mr. Evans or Ms. Jones be willing to write a letter of recommendation for us to put in the place of the usual screenshot or clip?”

Dwight smiled. “Oh no my dear, the kids will do even better than that. If they are happy with your services, the finished product and you leave their private lives out of your public materials they will utilize your services in the future whenever they have tour stops in the state whenever you’re available and they will allow you to take a video letter of recommendation. The same offer extends to you Ms. Mattix.” 

It was hard to tell who was more excited to jump on that bandwagon and in the end the contracts were signed with the stipulations that the celebrities required. Photography and videography for the bridal brunch, the groom’s luncheon, the wedding, the reception… the works were secured with Constance and Mary’s preferred vendors and they had had a great lunch. After lunch Dwight got a call from Alicia Ritter to let him know that the kids’ house had passed inspection with flying colors, though the inspector did warn that they were about five to seven years out from having to replace the roofs on the main house and the pool house, but the barn roof looked to have been recently replaced. So they had found a great videographer and a great photographer on their first try. Sam and Mercedes’ house was one step closer to becoming a home for them. Plus they were done in time to do some sight-seeing before they were expected to get dressed for dinner with Constance’s mother and father. All in all the dads were quite happy with how their day had gone. 

Deja and Pamela, however, were not. The first part of their assignment had gone off without a hitch. They had seen Tracey of Face by Trace and walked through what would be required of her. Pamela made sure that she was well aware that she would be working with everyone but Mercedes, because the only people who touched that face were Mercedes, her momma and Deja, “we will be supplying everything. All tools and brushes and foundations and palettes. You will supply your time, your talent and your energy, if there is anything special that you’d like to make sure we have on hand, or any types of equipment you are completely uncomfortable using, just text me. The wedding party consists of six women of color including the bride’s maternal grandmother and not including the bride; four black women, one Asian and one Latina. Probably Tina will work with the makeup artist from the other firm we are bringing in to do the white members of the family while Santana will want to work with you.” Pamela explained. “You come highly recommended by the bride’s cousin and her aunt. Will you be able to handle the job, or do you need help?” Tracey wasn’t just confident that she could handle the job, she was also very willing to bring along a second pair of hands in her apprentice who was fresh out of cosmetology school but showed a lot of promise and would be able to do a lot of the prep work and set up. They concluded the meeting by signing the contracts and having Tracey sign the non-disclosure agreements. Tracey and her apprentice would handle the makeup not only for the big day, but also for the bridal brunch and the rehearsal dinner so that she would have worked out any kinks or problems before Saturday. 

Their second meeting was where the trouble began. The black hairstylist that Tasha’s childhood best friend had recommended arrived for their meeting thirty five minutes late. When she finally got there she spent more time texting than actually listening to what Pamela had to say and when she was told that the bride wouldn’t be using her services she actually came out the side of her neck with, “that’s okay. If I just say I was the hairstylist for the bridal party, everyone will assume that I did her hair any way.” Knowing that she was seconds away from snatching the other woman bald, Deja just stood up and walked out of the coffee shop. Pamela followed after telling the unprofessional woman all about herself. By the time Pamela had joined Deja at the rental car, the makeup artist was already on the phone making them another appointment. 

Their appointment with Twin Sisters Hair Artistry and Makeup Design was interesting as hell too. The two sisters in question were uncomfortable to the point that Deja finally just stopped talking and stared at them the way they were staring at her and Pam. Finally one of the two women stuttered out an apology, “We’re sorry, we just….I guess we were trying to figure out if you were like it.” She gestured to Pam. 

Pamela rolled her eyes. “Yes. We are both strikingly beautiful women of color. No, Deja is not transgender. Now can we please get to the business of this meeting, or should we go ahead and reach out to Fairytales and Brides.” 

However across the table, Deja was already packing her things. “Thank you for your time, but I don’t see this working out well at all.” She was not even for bringing that kind of small minded stupidity around her boss on what was to be the best day of her life. 

In the end, Fairytales and Brides was only too happy to handle their three events at the cost they wanted to pay and sign the non-disclosure agreements. It took them less than an hour to work everything out. Gabby proved awesome and even said that she was perfectly capable of giving Tracey a hand if she needed. They had worked a fashion show together and their styles were well known to each other. She gave her a list of the brands that she preferred to work with and was kind enough to put them in contact with a lovely black hairstylist named Miquelle who was ecstatic to be offered the opportunity to work with Gabby’s crew and Tracey. By the time Deja and Pamela left they were sure that the three main events of the weekend would go off without a hitch. 

That evening, the entire bridal party along with Mercedes Grand'Pere and Grand'Mere, Kenneth and Ophelia DuBois sat down for dinner at Herbsaint on St. Charles Place. Kenneth DuBois was a striking man of average height with deep, rich, mahogany skin and the upright bearing of a man half his age. However, his beautiful wife of sixty three years was very clearly dependent on her cane. Ophelia, despite her infirmity, was still clearly the matriarch of the DuBois clan. Sam had met her during Mercedes’ tour stop in the historic city and he swore up and down if Mercedes didn’t already have his heart, he’d have tried to steal her away from Mr. Kenneth. The food was great, the company was even better. Connie and Mary got reports from everyone and Toni and Simon updated their information on the hair and makeup service providers. Kurt and Tina had news that they needed to know as well. “Magnus has everything in complete readiness…but there is no outstanding balance, and the deposit will be refunded into your account Dr. Alfred. Apparently Sam, your record label called him and told him that as their gift to you two, they are handling the bill for the flowers.”

Connie smiled. “Okay…wow. That is not something that we’re going to even think about complaining about. Those ‘Ocean Breeze’ orchids were not cheap.” 

Kurt smiled, “I thought you would like hearing that.” The rest of the night was fun and they all had a lovely time. 

Tuesday saw the women enjoying a lovely day at the Ritz Carlton spa. Then that evening they made sure that everything was in readiness with the favors and all the clothing and everything that they would need for Saturday. They gathered in the living room of the Jones’ suite after dinner and went down the checklist that Connie and Mary had given them for apparel, Shelby and Beth were skyped in, they wouldn’t be able to be there in person until Friday because school was still in session for Beth and she couldn’t miss an entire week. “Alright, last thing, it is supposed to in the mid-forties Saturday and drop even further in the evenings. I am sure that you each brought sweaters or something to wear in the cold, but…” Alfred and Dwight came out with six gift boxes. They handed Mercedes the white wrapped box. Santana happily took the one wrapped in silver paper and the other five were wrapped in blue paper and each of the rest of the bridesmaids received one. “we wanted to thank you for all you have done and are doing to take care of our children and make sure that their lives and their special day are wonderful. So the four of us, the parents of these two extraordinary people, got you these.” 

Mercedes and Santana quickly had theirs open. Unlike the other women they were straight up paper rippers. Inside their boxes were matching black and white Sofia Cashmere fox fur-trimmed cashmere u-capes. Tina was the first of the bridesmaids to get her box open. The bridesmaids found beautiful black Armani Collezioni genuine rabbit fur collars. Connie and Mary had worried that one of the younger women might object to getting real fur, but not a single girl was anything but happy. “Shelby, we didn’t forget about Beth. We got her a jacket made of black fur, but it is faux. It will be in your room when you get here.” The thanks were huge. “We started to hold these all back until Friday night, but we know that you will be getting your gifts from Cedes and Sam that night.” They had a grand ball playing with their furs that night. It was almost as if they couldn’t resist running their fingers through the soft fur.

The next morning the women were all up and dressed and gathered in the lobby by eleven. Tracey, Miquelle, Gabby and her crew arrived at nine and worked in the modified shop that had been set up in Deja’s room. The bridal party took turns getting their hair and makeup done and the ladies were all very efficient but they also listened to what the woman wanted and talked them through what would look best with their coloring and hair. As fitting the occasion, Mercedes was in a gorgeous white dress. The Christian Siriano silk dolman gown had a deep V neckline, short dolman sleeves, a V'd draped bodice. It was drawn in at Mercedes’ natural waist with inverted pleat ruffles skirt; thigh-high front slit and was finished off with an arched hem slightly extends in back giving it a very flowing silhouette. She had a pretty black and purple pashmina shawl to fend off the December chill. For the brunch, Santana and the bridesmaids had agreed to stick with the wedding colors, but not force the same level of conformity they would exhibit at the ceremony. Santana looked like she was ready for either brunch or the court room in a beautiful cobalt blue La Petite Robe di Chiara Boni Saskia three quarter length sleeve peplum dress. The jersey dress had wide boat neckline, asymmetric peplum waist and was truly form fitting with a pencil skirt with faux-wrap and inset. Toni looked smart and sweetly pretty in a heather gray Halston cashmere off-the-shoulder sweater dress. Tina’s dress was in navy blue lace over nude satin Tadashi Shoji lace overlay A-line midi dress. 

Deja’s dress was a dove gray Maggy London gathered crepe sheath dress that came to her knees and followed her curves nicely. Stacey’s dress was the exact same color as Santana’s and looked pretty and young, but definitely appropriate for the occasion. She loved the fact that she found the Felicity & Coco midi sheath dress on sale for half off. Tasha’s dress was a floor length lace bodice dress that was royal blue with the blue lace over beige lycra showing off her not inconsiderable curves. Both mothers chose to wear simple gray dresses. Connie’s was an adorable Nue by Shani faux leather & ponte fit & flare dress that ended at her knees. Mary went with a Vera Wang Asymmetrical Long Sleeve Sheath Dress with ruching to give the dress visual interest and make Mary’s subtle curves seem more defined. They stopped by the house Connie had been raised in and picked up Ms. Ophelia and she was wearing a nice navy and ivory Eliza J geo print jersey faux wrap maxi dress. 

The restaurant was filled with Dubois women and several of Mercedes old and newer friends who felt like making the trip. The restaurant, Apolline, was actually closed for the morning for the event. Every one ate, drank and made merry. The mimosas were amazing as were the ‘shrimp bloodys’ and most of them had a new favorite shrimp and grits. Each of the women brought Mercedes a gift of beautiful lingerie or a gift card so that she could pick out her own. The brunch was just about over due to inebriation, as was evidenced by the fact that Lauren, who came down from Baton Rouge where Raw and Smackdown were filming that week, was tipsy enough to treat them all to a reprisal of her ‘I Know What Boys Like’ performance from high school. It was made completely clear when Faith Hill and Trisha Yearwood got up there and acted as her background singers. That afternoon the ladies took a sight-seeing tour of the city and did some shopping, just all around having fun. They had dinner out before returning to the hotel. 

Thursday morning was the men’s turn. They got up and got dressed in clothes they could be comfortable in and went to the Lakewood Golf Club to have lunch and play several rounds of golf with the men Sam had elected to share the momentous occasion with. The gifts to Sam were all tech based for either sports or his music. Only Kurt and Slick gave him something Mercedes could enjoy too. The couple gave him a set of silk boxers and matching robes for everyday of the week. While the women relaxed at the hotel, the men made their own fun. Kenneth DuBois had spent his whole life in New Orleans, he took his soon to be grandson-in-law and the other men of the bridal party to his ‘club’. An old fashion ‘Gentlemen’s Club’ with a history that stretched back centuries and was much like Whites in London. He watched Sam carefully. The club employed some of the most beautiful women of all races, colors and creeds in the whole state of Louisiana…Kenneth knew that Sam had passed his ultimate test because he didn’t pay any attention to any of them. Then again he was fighting for his life as he played Texas hold ‘em against Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Kenneth’s own son, Brandon and Puck. Watching the game, Kenneth could see the closeness and respect all the men at the table had for each other, but it was sure as hell every man for themselves and there was no holding back going on at all. 

Friday, everyone slept late. The men had been out late the night before and the women had been up late all of them chilling out in Mercedes room giving her tons of sex advice. Even the mothers chimed in a time or two. The best part was that several of them were taking notes their damn selves. The ladies had enjoyed their girl talk with several bottles of wine and champagne. The gentlemen had enjoyed their poker and blackjack and other card games with whiskey, bourbon or scotch. Even Stacey and Stevie were allowed to partake in the very controlled, family enriched environments. Suffice it to say they were all very, very drunk when they went to sleep and at least a little bit hung the next morning. 

Unfortunately for them, Friday morning was a very bad day for sleeping in. Fortunately for the entire group, Kenneth DuBois had connections everywhere, even with the concierge at the Ritz Carlton and that they could not be allowed to be late. Kenneth let the young man know that the Jones-Evans party was due at the church by two. The young, ambitious and efficient concierge had a word with his manager and at ten o’clock each room registered to the party received a call from the switch board to get them started on the path to wakefulness. They were then further awakened by room service delivering a cart with a selection of pain relievers, a pot of Sumatra bold roast coffee, a selection of jin hou tea and several different breakfast teas tea bags, as well as sugars, creamers and milk. Also on the cart were the hotel’s signature beignets and croissants. The very intelligent young man even gave every guest in their party an order of bacon to accompany the pastries. 

Grand’Pere was a very wise man. It was the perfect start for the day. And the timing gave them the necessary time to pull themselves together so they no longer appeared hung over when they reported to the church for the rehearsal. Mrs. Broekman was quite the capable individual. She introduced everyone to Father Ignatius and gave them the order of the sacrament then they got right to work. If the ladies looked interesting in their comfortable yoga pants and customized blue and silver hoodies that stated their name and ‘position’ on the front and had the words ‘Love Only Once’ and Jones Evans Wedding with the date and time and the city encircling Sam and Mercedes decked out like they were on the cover of a bodice ripper on the back. Each woman had paired the comfy clothing with their sparkly high heels. The girls were a little surprised that no one made any comment other than Mrs. Broekman who asked if she could add that to her ‘tips for brides’ blog. The gentlemen were all similarly in comfortable clothing and dress shoes, but other than Kurt it was rather difficult to even see their shoes with their heavy pants in the way. 

The priest talked to them about the order of events for the service and introduced them to the Cantor for the service. The gentleman was actually an old friend of Mercedes’ grandparents and had asked Father Ignatius to act as their cantor since he had been invited to the wedding by the family anyway. Mr. Christophe wouldn’t accept the cantor’s fee either, so that was a nice little gift to the couple. Mercedes and her mother both offered him hugs in thanks and he asked Mercedes if she knew the difference in the two type of services available. “Yes, Ms. Mary explained it to me. Even though I’m not catholic, I am baptized in a Christian faith so I can have the ceremony or I can have the ceremony with the mass. But given that have so many guests of different faiths and a lot of them are agnostic if not outright atheists…well, we talked it over with Father Mulcahey in Dickson and decided that we would just have the ceremony without the mass. He felt that with six hundred guests, the four parents, three grandparents, and sixteen members of the bridal party including me and Sam…communion alone will take forever.” 

Father Ignatius looked a little relieved. “I must admit that I too felt that the longer service would stretch out far too long given the sheer number of guests. However, I would like to offer you the chance to have a short mass and communion before the ceremony. Miss Jones, while you may not be catholic, many of our young women would be very well served by following your wonderful example of upright living. The fact that you have chosen to do so and remain humble in your pursuit of your relationship with Christ, it should be lauded.”

Sam came up behind Mercedes, his hand unerringly finding the small of her back, “thank you very much for that Padre.” He accepted with a grin. “Tank just pulled up with the bride’s other grandfather and our flower girl so we can get started whenever you’re ready.”

Beth ran in and jumped into her father’s arms, followed at a more sedate pace by her mother and her godmother’s body guard. Pamela came in walking with Gerard Jones discussing something that had them both teetering on the edge of amusement and exasperation. Once Beth had finished hugging her daddy and found her god mother and squealed for several long minutes over the ring and the pictures of the dress Mercedes had sent her, she turned to Sam and with a hard glint in her eyes she dropped her voice so the priest nearby wouldn’t hear her and calmly said, “When Daddy brought me to meet you, I liked you Sam…really I still do…I think that over all you are real good people. But Cedes is my godmother. She took care of me before I was even born. She has never missed a birthday or holiday calling me or seeing me…even when she was living in a dorm, doing a full course load and working full time as a backup singer she never, ever made me feel anything less than loved and cherished. She would sit on the phone and pray with me for hours when I was so scared that Puck wasn’t gonna make it home that all I could do was cry. If you hurt her, I won’t kill you, not at first. What I will do is drive you slowly insane until the only thing that breaks through the shell of your psychosis is the pain that I use to make you beg for the release of death.” 

Mercedes and Sam looked at the pixie pretty, brunette, ten year old in front of them. Both of their chins were resting against their necks in shock. Mercedes’ eyes snapped around the church looking for… “That is it, Little Girl, you and Santana cannot converse without supervision ever, never, ever again.”   
Beth just shrugged as her godmother pulled her into an overprotective hug. “Not Tana…Momma said that you once told her a vague disclaimer is no one’s friend…I’ve been trying to figure out what to say for months.” Beth mumbled loudly against the boobs her face was smooshed against. 

“See Darlin’ you have only yourself to blame. And you, Lil Missy, I will turn myself over to you for whatever damage you end up wreakin’ on me if I ever hurt her.” Sam promised solemnly.   
Beth finally gave him a hug and they drifted behind Mrs. Broekman, who’d been trying to corral the twenty eight of them for a tour of the church. She showed them the chambers where the bride could repair herself after the drive over from their hotel where she and her entourage would be getting dressed. Then she took them into the room where the groom and his groomsmen would wait. She showed them the back areas that contained the restrooms they would be able to use so none of the guests would see them before the ceremony. She showed the women of the wedding party and Alfred the very clean and well lit hallway that would take them from the back to the front of the church unseen. Then the Father took back over and led them through the order of the ceremony three times. Because there was going to be so much music, it would take almost as long as a regular ceremony plus mass, which further cosigned the fact that they had made the right decision as to what kind of ceremony to have. 

They ran through the order of service twice, Santana and Puck filling in for Marley and Jake who couldn’t make it in time for the rehearsal but were arriving later that night or early the next morning depending on which of them was answering the phone. Corinne, Tamela, Shelby and Garth and Trisha were all present and accounted for as were the church organist and the musicians and Artie who were going to accompany him. They had everything all worked out and were finished by four fifteen. The rush to get back to the Ritz was ridiculous, but they were to meet the makeup artists and hair stylists in the lobby at five, to get prepared for the rehearsal dinner which was scheduled to begin at seven thirty. 

The women were all on time, even if the wedding party was a few minutes late. Beth, Shelby and Mary are the fastest done with their showers, so Gabby’s team start there. Deja, Pamela and Toni were the first ones to make it to Miquelle’s and Tracey’s chairs. Ophelia and Kenneth were changing in Constance and Alfred’s room, but since Ophelia moved slower than she would have preferred, she forced her daughter and son-in-law to take the first round of showers, despite how they argued. Since she had the time, Constance dressed with care before heading to get her hair and face done. She appeared ready but for her dress as soon as they were done with the first set. She ended up seated next to Tasha and Santana all of them missing only their dresses. Tina and Stacey were done up and released to go throw on their dresses and Tracey sent Santana over to Gabby’s hair stylist since Miquelle was still busy. Tracey took care of Ophelia’s makeup and the grandmother returned to slip into her dress. Her hair had been done for the weekend early that morning while the rest of the wedding party had still been asleep and she wouldn’t need it touched until she went back to her regular hair dresser to have it taken down and put into her normal style on the Monday following the event filled weekend. 

Mercedes came in looking amazing in a knee length, navy blue La Petite Robe di Chiara Boni signorina long-sleeve ruched cocktail dress and a pair of matching sky high heels. She had been very specific with everyone, the rehearsal dinner was cocktail dresses and suits without ties. The ultra-formal would be the wedding and reception, not the rehearsal dinner. Dwight and Mary had been very, very, very firm in the fact that they were paying for the rehearsal dinner. They did let Sam help some, but in their minds the dinner was their jobs. Plus, that way Mary got to take the main lead in the planning. She swore that with the engagement gala added in, Constance had had more fun planning stuff than she did, so Mary wanted her night. 

With some help from the staff at the Ritz, she got it. Renting the Audubon meeting room and having it set up for a sit down dinner for a hundred was easy. Talking them into letting the florist in after five for a dinner starting at seven thirty was more difficult, but Mary had persevered. She didn’t want anyone to see the table scape and décor she had elected to have done. For the rehearsal dinner she’d hired Nola-Flora and they had worked together to create a nice simple table scape. Thankfully even though they were a florist, they were perfectly willing to go nontraditional and avoid floral centerpieces all together. Instead they placed a variety of eleven glass and crystal candle holders of varying heights in a ring around a center silver one. Each held a blue no drip taper. 

The place settings were white with alternating silver and blue edging on the different parts of the service. Mary snuck down to the room and let herself in, it took her little time, and a little help from the Ritz Carlton staff but she had a perfect love song playlist going audibly in the background, loud enough that you’d be able to hear the words if you were listening, but hear any conversation you wanted to have at the same time. She looked around the room and decided it was perfect. She had decided that she wanted a buffet style dinner since she flat our refused to do place cards or take orders on who wanted what. The staff was more than willing to serve everything exactly how she wanted it. She thanked them all profusely and snuck back up to her and Dwight’s room. 

At seven fifteen, Mary, Dwight, Stevie, Stacey and Sam escorted the rest of their family, including all of Mercedes aunts and uncles, a lot of her first cousins, Sam’s Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Barb and Cousin Maggie, friends and the priest, wedding director, music coordinator and organist from His Holy Name Jesus Church into the Audubon room. Mary and Dwight welcomed everyone and told them all how happy they and their whole family were for Sam and Mercedes. Then Father Ignatius gave thanks for the wonderful food and they attached the buffet. 

Whether due to traveling or late nights and early to them mornings, most of the room was famished. The Buffet offered four choices of displayed hors d'oeuvres; blackened chicken satay with lemon rosemary sauce, mini lump crab cakes and garlic aioli, pulled duck “gumbo” slider with Cajun pickle, or crispy vegetable spring roll with thai chili sauce for dipping. Then there were two large display stations. The artisanal cheese display had a wide variety of assorted artisanal cheese, fresh local jams, mustards, sticky pecan fresh baked focaccia, ciabatta, rice crackers and crostini. The Fruits de Mer where the guests were offered Chilled Seafood like Louisiana oysters on the half shell, boiled gulf shrimps, king crab legs, with their choice of crystal cocktail sauce, remoulade, lemon, tabasco sauce. The ‘real food’ was next. Mary had forked out for three ‘Action stations’ where the guests were served their entrée in an interesting or educational way. Her original plan had been just two, one seafood and one not…but then she couldn’t make up her mind between two of the seafood ones, and Sam had told her to just get both. Ultimately the wedding party and guests could pick between New Orleans BBQ shrimp & grits which was peeled gulf shrimp cooked in a sauce made with Abita beer, lemon, rosemary, Worcestershire, and butter and served alongside cheese grits and sliced French bread; the Jazz Fest Pasta which offered them Crawfish Monica: fusilli pasta with crawfish, cream, lemon, white wine, green onion or penne primavera with smoked tomato sauce, and spinach, herb roasted seasonal vegetables with shaved parmesan and assorted dinner rolls; or the other seafood choice; Louisiana Crawfish Boil where they had the chance to learn to peel & eat crawfish with the chef attendant…live Louisiana Crawfish and gulf shrimp boiled with creole spice served in a pirogue with andouille sausage, sweet corn on the cob, new potatoes, mushrooms, okra. 

Mary sampled everything and so did most of the rest of their party. And that was what it became. Everyone ate drank and made merry. She couldn’t have told you what wines the chefs had paired with everything, she asked for moderate priced bottles that were designed to go with the different courses. She also had them offer a full range of Coke products and sweet iced tea. People mingled sometimes conversations began in the buffet line were too good and intense to make it to their seats and instead they just found a spot and stood and ate. Alfred’s baby brother, Nate, and his girlfriend, Devlin, and Ronnie Sherringer talked so long that they ended up co-opting a table of their own and Dean, Mercedes’ uncle, ended up grabbing one of the younger set to get them things from the buffet. One of her cousins, a tall lanky guy with light skin and hazel eyes, named Vincent, was flirting with Stacey so hard Stevie had ended up having to be distracted by his ‘Irish twin’ sister Miranda. All over the room people were getting along and building bridges to being more than just people who were there to celebrate a union, they were becoming one great, big, old family. 

So many great conversations were happening, Sam and Mercedes almost hated to have to draw things to a close. “Sorry, y’all,” Sam pulled everyone’s attention to where he and Mercedes stood next to a table full of silver and blue gift bags. “Tradition dictates that we give our bridesmaids and groomsmen their gifts here in front of God and everybody and one of the least traditional people I’ve ever met made us stick to it. Thanks for that, by the way Santana…” everyone who knew her laughed loudly. Everyone else joined in when she stood took and bow and told them that they were welcome. “Well, while you are up. We can start with you.” They presented her with a silver gift bag containing the Tiffany sapphire and diamond Soleste necklace, the sapphire and diamond earrings, and the Burberry watch. Sam had also slipped in a gift card to Mercedes and Santana’s favorite LA spa, just because he wanted to get her something too.” Beth was called up after Santana sat down. In her bag she had her jewelry from Mercedes and a new tricked out tablet from Sam. The rest of the girls were called up one at a time. Each of them receiving a sapphire blue gift bag that contained the watch, Tiffany diamond and platinum Soleste necklaces and diamond drop earrings, from Mercedes and a five hundred dollar gift card that Sam figured they would appreciate. Well except Stacey, he knew her well enough to know what she liked and what she wanted. So her bag sat on top of a wrapped box containing the very newest MacBook already pre-loaded with every CADD and fashion design software known to man or woman kind. 

Then they handled the guys. Each man received a navy blue or steel gray bag containing a men’s Burberry watch, and sterling silver cuff links, money clips, tie clips and ball point pens from Tiffany’s. They also received a gift card to Neiman Marcus paying them back for the cost of their tuxedos and tailoring. Sam had picked out their gifts, so it was Mercedes’ who had gone behind his back and slid in an extra little something. Though she had given them each the same thing. A Delta gift card worth a cool thousand bucks. She figured that would get them a round trip to which ever guys’ destination they wanted to have a dude’s weekend. She may have also slipped Trey, Kurt, Tank and Puck pretty cashmere sweaters too, but hey she slipped a video game in Stevie’s bag and a really nice silk neck tie in Slicks, and tickets to a Titan’s football game in Trigger’s. So it all evened out. 

The parents each got an all-inclusive weekend getaway. Mary got one to a great spa resort outside Chicago for two. Connie got a trip to a Sandals resort of her choice, again for two. Alfred received a Vegas getaway for two, and Dwight also received the choice of weekends at any Sandals resort. The four parents knew exactly what the kids had done. Mary would take Connie to the spa and Dwight would take her to Sandals. Alfred would take Dwight with him to Vegas and Connie and he would have a getaway for the two of them to the Caribbean. The party thought that they could get back to socializing when Brandon DuBois helped his mother to the front of the room. “The women in the DuBois family have a tradition, whenever one marries, she is given her ‘something old’ to wear. For the last hundred and seventy years, these two diamond hair combs have adorned the hair of the women with DuBois blood flowing in their veins. My mother-in-law was also my godmother, so she bent the rules a little and I wore them myself. Now, Mercedes, the women of the direct DuBois line are down to you and Tasha. But you will have daughters…Sam is a fine man…but Lord have his mercy those girls are gonna be spoiled as all get out, but that DuBois blood, it will give them backbone…and maybe some defense against getting everything they ever bat their little eyes at their Daddy and say they want. It worked just fine for you.” The room chuckled. “Oh ma bebe…you are a beautiful young woman…I want you to know as much happiness in your marriage as I have known in mine.” 

Mercedes was enveloped in the arms of her Grand’Mere and it was strong and giving and loving and perfect. They whispered their ‘I love yous’ and Ophelia handed her a beautiful rose wood box that contained the antique gold, platinum and diamond combs. Brandon kissed his niece’s perfectly coiffed hair and then his mother’s beautiful silver locks and escorted her back to where she and Kenneth had held court all night. 

“Well,” Gerard Jones’ booming voice carried to every ear in the room. “Guess it’s my turn. Now, HoneyBee, you know how your Grandma loved her some butterflies.” He smiled at her as he crossed the banquet hall to join her and Sam. 

Mercedes nodded. “She would laugh every time I accidentally called them flutterbyes…so much that even when I was big girl I’d slip it in on her just to make her laugh. I did it the night she passed too…she was so weak it was only a chuckle, but for a little while she was happy again.” 

“You always made her happy, HoneyBee…you and all your knuckle headed cousins. Anyway, I wanted to give you something that would bring Nadine and you close tomorrow even though she’s not physically here. I was at the swap meet, and I overheard a woman telling her daughter that she needed something borrowed and something blue…then I heard a laugh that…let’s just say in this world or the next Nadine is still doing all my important shopping because something led me to a booth with estate jewelry…” he pulled out a small white box with a silver bow on top. “I found this. I’m not gonna tell you what I paid for it…oh who am I kidding, that’s the second best part of the story…” Mercedes opened the box and found a sapphire and diamond brooch, in the shape of a butterfly. “I paid the guy fifty for it…he had that look on his face like he was getting one over on a stupid old man…then I took it to have it cleaned. Turns out the joke was on him…every stone on that thing is real. Its worth over fifty grand. So, my sweet little HoneyBee, here is your ‘something blue’…a gift from your Grandma and me for you to have when you marry your Sam.” the big man pulled both of them in for a big hug.” 

Kenneth DuBois walked forward strong and straight. “I’m sure that everyone wondered why I didn’t accompany my beautiful wife up here, and well, it is because I have a gift of my own for one of my beautiful granddaughters. Mercedes, you’re My Little Beignet…Oh sorry, I’m not supposed to call you that in public anymore…but Sweet girl, you are loved and a true blessing to this old man. So since you refused to allow this old man to use any of what most of this city is sure are ill-gotten gains of the only black family to have remained free all through slavery,” he rolled his eyes. There was nothing illegal in his family’s background, well other than some illicit slave freeing, but an unjust law is no law at all… “To pay for your wedding. So I decided that we’d send you and Sam on a trip on us. That lovely little Langlois girl helped us to work around your schedule, so next summer after your world tour is over, you and Sam have a two month stay in Paris courtesy of an old man who loves you more than you will be able to understand until you’re a mother and a grandmother yourself.” 

Mercedes was a crying, hugging, shaking mess…Sam supported her as she loved cried. And helped her to sit while she pulled herself together. The night continued around them as several of her aunts and uncles came up and gave her hugs until she was back smiling and shining and happy. A little before midnight, the party finally wound down, no one wanted to look like they hadn’t slept the next day. Sam walked Mercedes to her room door, “In sixteen hours, we’re gonna be man and wife, and Mercy Darlin’ I’d tell you that no couple in the history of the world has ever loved each other as much as we do…but I heard your grandparents…I’ve seen your parents and mine…I remember seeing the way my grandparents loved each other. We come from a rich heritage of loving and being loved in ways few people will ever get the chance to know. Thank you for loving me and allowing me to love you.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://imgur.com/YnPwMEB)

Whatever Will Be, Will Be  
Chapter 12

 

His Holy Name Jesus   
Saturday, December 12th, 2020   
New Orleans, LA

As Mercedes and her father waited in the hall way with all her bridesmaids, she couldn’t help but think back over the last year of her life. It seemed as if it had just been a year of blessings. God had granted her success in her career. He had granted her the love of her life. He had even seen her finally put to rest the biggest mistake of her past. Mercedes knew that Santana and Toni had been sheltering her from the things Tinsley had been putting into the media about her for months…handling the PR and keeping any of it from impacting her career in a negative way. Yes, God had even blessed her with the people he put into her life before the preceding year. Still, slightly unbelieving of her good fortune, Mercedes dropped her head in a moment of silent prayer of gratitude and Thanksgiving. When she was done, she looked over at her father. He stood next to her tall and broad shouldered, regal in a way that not many men ever understood how to be. Alfred Jones looked like he was almost bursting with pride. His daughter was getting married and on what was one of the busiest days of any young woman’s life, she had taken the time to start the day by having breakfast delivered to their suite and joining them, dragging her sleepy older brother with her. The Jones family had had one last breakfast, all of them together, all of them still carrying the same last name. While Mercedes wouldn’t be changing her professional name, she would be hyphenating in every other aspect of her life. Clearing her throat, she looked up at her father. “Daddy, thank you.”

“For what Sweetheart?” Alfred asked her momentarily confused. 

“You are a great man and a wonderful father. You have always been the role model that I’ve held every guy I dated up against. You and Mom are the gold standard in marriage for me. Thank you for showing me what I should aspire to have. Thank you for giving me both roots and wings.” She said honestly. Despite the fifteen thousand dollar gown, the perfectly coiffed head of luxurious, curvy curls held back from her beautifully made up face by the antique DuBois family combs, the seven thousand dollar veil, despite the thirty-five grand in jewelry other than the combs, despite the Grammys, and the Moonmen and all the Hollywood hoopla, she was still his amazingly kind and beautiful little girl. With a deep sigh and more love in his heart than he even knew what to do with, Alfred pulled his baby girl into a deeply emotional hug and he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to let go. 

“I love you, Baby girl. You have been the best daughter a man could ever have. Even when you rebelled it was never vengeful or hurtful…you just needed to grow your own way.” He pressed a kiss to her hair and stepped back. He straightened back out her chapel length, sheer, silk tulle, single layer veil with its edging of silk ribbon embroidered with Swarovski crystals. Her dress was gorgeous. It had an illusion boat neck that gave a touch of modesty to the décolletage that came from the corset bodice which sat straight across the upper portion of Mercedes chest giving her an amazing display of cleavage. The corset nature of the dress pulled her in just a bit extra at the waist before flowing into a magnificent ball gown skirt with subtle darting and a bubble hem. The illusion fabric, edged with Swarovski crystals, formed the off the shoulder seams and at her neck shown a three carat De Beers aura double halo diamond pendant and at her ears twinkled the matching earrings. Her left wrist was adorned with a De Beers round cut diamond tennis bracelet, her right with her ‘something borrowed’ the Paloma Picasso silver cuff Alfred had given to Connie for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary that her mother had lent her. Waiting to be escorted down the aisle by her father, Mercedes looked like she stepped out of a storybook, every inch a princess. 

For a moment Mercedes allowed herself to be distracted by LuLu Alexander as she flitted hither and yon making sure that everything was in readiness. The wedding planner had done a great job making sure that everything ran smoothly. She’d met the florist and the delivery guys from the metalworkers’ guild and made sure everything was set up exactly the way Connie and Mary had planned and drawn out. She was in a demure winter weight, long sleeved, sky blue midi dress and sensible navy heels. Her long highlighted blond hair was pulled back and looked pretty in a low ponytail. Her small blue tooth was barely noticeable as she checked in with her staff as they oversaw the decorating of the reception site. LuLu was quietly efficient and kind of interestingly domineering. She coordinated with the car service and security at both sites, LuLu even coordinated with both Stevie and Santana to make sure that all Sam’s and Mercedes’ luggage would be moved from the Ritz to the Windsor Court and with Kurt and Deja to make sure that Mercedes’ reception dress, shoes and everything else they would need were set up in the changing room at the plantation. She and her staff even had a list of invited guests who could be ‘problematic’. The wedding and reception were going to run smooth as silk or the mothers would get what was left of the problem causer after LuLu was done with them. 

Feeling secure that her day was going to be amazing, Mercedes took a look at her awesome bridesmaids. Deja, Stacey, Tasha, Tina and Toni all looked magnificent. They all had long hair, whether it be naturally theirs or an expensive ‘natural looking’ weave, and Mercedes had wanted the five very different women to have the same hairstyle, and something that would look good on Beth as well. In the end Miquelle and Gabby had gotten together and created an amazing style that had French braids on either side of the bridesmaids’ head with the hair woven to look like a basket almost on top at the nape of their neck it was finished off in a fishtail braid. Then to top it all off, Miquelle and Gabby’s team had dotted little blue and diamante jewels at the intersections of the woven parts and in a beautiful pattern down the thick braid as well. It looked breathtaking on each of them, even with Deja’s sista locs which she had died back to their natural super dark, jet black color for the week. Their makeup was perfectly flawless too, airbrushed foundation and subtle, shimmery eye with a warm, deep red lip. Their diamond necklaces looked like smaller versions of the brides, and their drop earrings caught the light beautifully.   
In her beautiful blue floor length ball gown, Beth Cochran, felt like a princess. The dress had a high scoop neckline and a pleated bodice that ended in a wide ruched band of the same blue satin. The skirt was lovely and full and had a bubble hem just like Mercedes’ gown. her hair, which had darkened from the light blond of her birth mother’s to a deep brown almost the same color as her father’s and adoptive mother’s, was in the same intricate style as the bridesmaids. A real hair stylist had turned her waist length mass of thick hair into the coolest braid ever. The smile on her face when she fastened on her heart shaped diamond necklace and earrings was just plain huge and she even had hearts on her bracelet. She was allowed to wear one inch heels and lip gloss too, so she was on top of the world. 

Of course, Santana wanted to look different from everyone else. She even had a pretty good reason that it was necessary to find a different look. She’d donated almost thirty inches of hair to ‘Locks of Love’ about six months before the Grammys, so her hair, while having grown back admirably, wasn’t long enough for the same style as the other attendants. Instead, Miquelle had washed and blow dried her hair at the root with a volumizing mousse before she started a French braid in the front and swept it around to the side just below the ear. Then Miquelle took the rest of Santana’s deep brown hair and ringlet curled the thick mass before finishing it off by pinning the curls up and to the side with blue and diamante tipped pins until they barely brushed her neck and shoulder. Santana’s neck and ears were bejeweled with sapphires and diamonds, and with her head held high and proud her steel grey dress hugged her every curve. 

Standing nearby Mary Evans was a proud as she was beautiful. She stood very near the antechamber door waiting to be escorted to her seat. She and Connie had literally picked their colors by drawing slips of paper from a hat. She had ended up in the steel. The gown she’d found was a beautiful, Zac Posen creation that was strapless and fitted to her modest curves until her knees where it flared out to a small train. Since it was cold and she was in a church she covered her shoulders with a black fur stole just like the collars they had given the bridesmaids. Her feet were encased in the most expensive shoes she had ever bought…She really needed to stop going shopping with Connie, they were bad influences on each other…the pair of silver, Gianvito Rossi, V-neck, ankle booties had cost more than a car payment on her first car, but they did look amazing. When shopping for her dress, Mary had found a pretty teardrop antiqued pave diamond necklace and matching earrings that she fell in love with and wore that day with the white gold watch that her own mother had worn on her wedding day. Gabby and her crew had turned Mary’s thick, wavy blond hair into a halo of curls and then braided it back in three loose French braids, before gathering them into a low side bun and sticking blue jeweled pins into the coif. Like the bridesmaids her makeup was kept to a ‘natural’ evening look with her eyes and lips played up, in Mary’s case, with a true red and the rosiness in her cheeks coming from joy and pride and nothing else. 

Since Mary was in gray, Constance was wearing blue. Her dress was a Christian Siriano sapphire, silk, duchesse trumpet gown with layered ruffle off the shoulder sleeves and a crossover neckline. While Mary had been frugal when picking her accessories because she felt bad for spending so much on her dress and shoes, Constance really didn’t have a frugal bone in her body. She wasn’t a spendthrift, but she had grown up with money and after just a few lean years at the beginning of her marriage she had always made more than enough to buy the best when she did need to buy things. So as soon as she saw the perfect pair of sapphire blue Manolo Blahnik jeweled pumps, she had scooped them up in her size. But, Connie forced herself to remember that having the more expensive pumps was an easy choice for her since she didn’t need to buy any jewelry. Alfred loved to give her ‘baubles’ for their anniversaries and her birthday. She had lent Mercedes the wider ‘Olive Leaf’ cuff, but kept the ‘Crown of Hearts cuff to wear herself. She paired it with the deceptively simple Tiffany Cobblestone necklace in platinum with diamonds and diamond drop earrings that were just a hair or so smaller than the younger women’s. Connie’s hair had been straightened, then rolled on big rollers more for volume than anything else. Once Miquelle was satisfied with the volume, she had pulled Connie’s thick hair back and up into a ponytail at the very center of the back of her head with side swept bangs and then curled the hair and swept it to the side over one shoulder. Tracey had decided to keep her makeup light and airy with neutral eyes and a shiny burgundy lip. 

Ophelia DuBois didn’t just consider herself the bride’s maternal grandmother that day. She had prayed and asked a question that she felt in her heart was answered by the spirits of Nadine Jones, Donna Sherringer and Katherine Evans. On that clear, beautiful, chilly December day, she was representing all four of the grandmothers of both the bride and groom. She made sure to convey that in her dress. She’d found two Kay Unger gowns, one in silver and the other in darker than sapphire but lighter than navy blue. Ophelia had purchased both and taken them immediately to the best seamstress she knew, Vinnie Summers. They had taken the long sleeved, silver, sequined lace bodice of one dress and the blue, floor length silk tulle over silk skirt of the second and combined them with a pretty jeweled ribbon belt at the waist. A pair of blue suede one inch pumps with a silver buckle completed her outfit. Her platinum and diamond cross, and diamond stud completed her entire ensemble. She had sat still and allowed Trace to do her face, though she hadn’t been comfortable with the air brushing and simply went with a light BB cream foundation, soft eyes and a warm, brick red lipstick. Her hairdresser had been kind enough to expertly braid her long, natural hair had been and wound into a coronet atop her head for the wedding festivities. 

One of the two photographers went directly to the church and gotten all the men’s shots done while the other reached the hotel just in time to take the beautiful dressing the bride pictures. Chris and MaryClaire themselves were doing the videography for the wedding and Chris was currently filming the grooms chambers. MaryClaire, however, was filming the hallway. She was happy that she had caught the very touching Father-Daughter moment. She’d also been fortunate to catch Santana showing Sam’s wide platinum wedding ring to an enthusiastic Beth. She caught a quiet moment between the two mothers and the lone surviving grandmother, where Ophelia asked if Connie and Mary thought it okay that she felt like she was representing deceased ones as well. The three tearful women then made their way to the chamber where Sam was waiting for the start of the service and Ophelia told Sam of her prayers and conclusions and offered to represent his grandmothers. He could barely nod the lump in his throat was so large. She asked Sam if he would do her the honor of wearing her father’s boutonniere pin. Max, the second photographer from Sarah Mattix, got a great shot of the tears in Sam’s green eyes as he thanked her and Ophelia’s lovely old hands took the stick pin out of the orchid and gardenia boutonniere and replaced it with the antique silver double lion topped lapel pin. 

The three women made it back to their places just in time for Tank, in his black FUBU tuxedo, to lead Ophelia to her seat while Pam lent her arm to Mr. Kenneth. Then Tank returned to the front with Connie and Simon, wearing a Hugo Boss tux that made him look less like a pit boss and more like a mafia don, escorted Mary. Dwight walked behind the mothers with Pamela escorting him. Pamela was in a dress similar to Santana’s however it had full length sleeves and was a deep, dark navy blue. Her makeup had been done with the same deft hand as the bridesmaids and maid of honor and her hair was caught up in a ponytail then intricately woven into a wide, thick braid down her back. When the three ushers returned to the back, a signal was given and the congregation stood. Shelby stood at the front, but outside the communion rail and the priest and cantor entered down the center aisle as she sang ‘The Prayer’. Once Father Ignatius was in place, Sam and Stevie came out of a side entrance and joined him at the altar. 

When Shelby completed the beautiful solo, the organist launched into the instrumental ‘Safe and Sound’. Montravious stepped onto the aisle with his cousin by his side in her sapphire designer, ‘bridesmaids’ gown. He escorted Tasha to the front and inside the communion rail. At five foot ten, Tasha was shaped a lot like a taller version of Mercedes so she and, six foot five, Trey looked perfectly suited as they came down the aisle. They were followed by Toni and Trigger, then Deja and Kurt. Once those two were in place, Slick and Stacey made the walk and Puck escorted Tina to finish off the bridesmaids and Groomsmen. Each bridesmaid carrying a bouquet of magnolia with steel gray ribbon wrapped around there fresh cut stems. Santana walked in by herself, her hands holding a nosegay of blue anemones with a blur ribbon around the stems. The steel gray of her dress almost the exact same color as the fleur de lis flower stands capping off each row. Atop each stand was a beautiful arrangement of white lily of the valleys, azure miniature irises, blue muscari, feathery scilla in the palest blue arranged around a silver no drip taper. Beth came in behind her strewing blue hydrangea and white Madagascar jasmine petals along the runner.

When she took her place the musicians moved seamlessly into Mendelssohn's ‘Wedding March’ and there Mercedes stood for a moment in the open doors of the church on her father’s arm. In her left hand she held her large bouquet of orchids and gardenias. The right was looped through Alfred’s who was beaming at the church with love and pride. Sam’s breath caught in his throat. He had never in all his days seen a more beautiful sight. She looked stunning and amazing and Sam, standing there in the Brioni Tux Puck insisted he buy, the single most expensive outfit he had ever owned, he did not feel at all worthy to share her space let alone her life. The first parts of the ceremony were a blur for him. He spent so much time feeling his heart trying to jump from his chest to get even closer to the woman who held it, he couldn’t have told you anything at all about the greeting, the opening prayer, or the liturgy of the word. He didn’t even hear Corinne Bailey Rae serenading them.

He sort of heard his little cousin Maggie stand up and do the first reading. “Aunt Mary and Mercy’s Mom let Sam pick the old testament scripture so I am reading Ruth first chapter sixteen and seventeenth verses. ‘But Ruth said, “Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! For wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Wherever you die I will die, and there be buried. May the LORD do so and so to me, and more besides, if aught but death separates me from you!” She did a nice little curtsy and took her seat. Tamela Mann stood and blessed the entire assembly with her voice doing BeBe Winan’s ‘I Found You’. 

Then Mr. Christophe St. James, the Cantor, took over and led them in the Responsorial Psalm, from Psalm 103. The Psalm was followed by Mike coming to the front to give the second reading; “From John fourth chapter, seventh through twelfth verses. ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.’ And as Mercedes taught me to say way back at McKinley, ‘May God bless the hearers and the doers of his word.”

Father Ignatius smiled and led the congregation in the catholic response to the hearing of the gospel. Everyone stood and were led through the Gospel Acclamation and Kenneth stood to read the gospel. “Sam and Mercedes have elected to have me read to you Christ’s greatest commandment. From John chapter fifteen verses twelve through sixteen: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” He paused before ending with "The Gospel of the Lord". 

Most of the assembly responded, "Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ." And took their seats.

But Sam barely heard any of it and to be honest Mercedes only heard a little bit more. Father Ignatius gave the homily and led them through the rites of marriage. Then the loving couple stated their intention to love honor and care for each other. To have and rear children with strong beliefs in God. They promised not to seek anything outside their marriage that should come only from one another. They consented to and exchanged their vows. They had discussed writing their own vows but felt that there was a certain beauty of saying the same ones both their parents and all four sets of their grandparents had said. Jake and Marley’s voices combined and rang through the church as together they sang ‘In Love With You’. The exchange of rings was simply done and followed by Garth and Trisha’s beautiful duet. It had been a conscious decision to have solos before the vows and the duets after. Connie and Mary both agreed that the symbolism was lovely. 

Father Ignatius allowed the blissfully smiling couple to share a small kiss before he moved on, which pretty much ensured that neither of them heard the cantor lead the Prayer of the Faithful, or Father Ignatius delivering the Nuptial Blessing. They were able to participate in ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ only because it was such an integral part of each of them. Sam and Mercedes didn’t check back in until after the organist had started ‘At Last’. Though, the fact was that if Santana hadn’t decided to sing it, they may have stood there looking into each other’s eyes happily in love until kingdom come. However, once drawn back to reality, they kissed, one small little, church appropriate peck, and turned and led the recessional down the aisle. 

In the short interim before the guests stood to leave the sanctuary, LuLu appeared and got them all set up in a formal receiving line, beginning at the door with Tasha and Tray and ending on the steps with Sam and Mercedes. As they guests left the building they were thanked graciously and reminded that the cocktail hour was awaiting them at the Southern Oaks Plantation and there were cars that would take them to the reception and then back to the hotel, so they could have as much fun as they wanted and wouldn’t need to drive at all. Alfred took care to remind their younger guest that they would not be served alcohol at the bar in the reception…no matter who they were. Once the guests were all in the limos, for the celebs, or the very nicely appointed sixteen passenger vans, and on their twenty minute ride to the reception space, LuLu turned her attention back to the wedding party. 

There were more pictures…lots more pictures, but while the bridal party and their entire family was busy doing that and while the florist’s cleanup crew was putting the church back in order by the rigid fifteen minute after the ceremony guidelines, their guests had reached their destination where cocktail hour awaited their arrival. 

 

Southern Oaks Plantation   
Saturday, December 12th, 2020   
New Orleans, LA

Part of the experience of having their reception at the plantation was the benefit of being driven from the church to the site in either a horse drawn carriage or a in a fully restored, mint condition, silver1956 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud Limo. Without a moment’s hesitation or discussion, Sam and Mercedes had immediately answered limo when their mothers had posed the question. So once the picture talking was all complete, the bride and groom were ushered into classic Rolls while the rest of the bridal party were divided up between two black limos of more modern origin, Beth, of course, choosing to ride with her father. The ride was almost too short. The first moments they had been granted alone since they’d been pronounced man and wife plus the fact that the car was a dream for both of them meant that when they got to the reception hall they almost didn’t want to get out. But they did. It had been a very long time since lunch and since Mercedes had been getting her hair and makeup done during lunch, she hadn’t had nearly enough fruit and water to keep her going all day. 

The pictures had taken far more time than they’d realized and when they got there the cocktail hour was actually winding down. Mercedes pouted until she realized that there was a separate salon for the bridal party that had the full array of the six hors d'oeuvres that had been passed around for the guests; lump crab salad on cucumber, bacon, basil & tomato tart, cherry tomato, Kalamata olive, fresh mozzarella brochette, basil pesto, caramelized onion, roasted mushroom, goat cheese on flatbread, parmesan risotto fritter, truffle aioli, and roasted mushroom and brie empanadas. Plus the room had their own bar where they could get cocktails and there were glasses of pink and white champagne waiting on them the second they walked into the room. Probably Mercedes would eventually find the part of the video showing them all descending on the hors d'oeuvres bar like a pack of ravenous wolves funny…one day…in the future. It was really quite humorous, she and Kurt had walked into the room removing the beautiful but heavy veil as they walked and then they all noticed the buffet of appetizer. And Boom, the fifteen of them quickly had the platters cleared and they were feeling much better. 

Which turned out to be great timing, because LuLu appeared at the door and herded them into place. The DJ introduced them to the room in the same order they had entered the church, Calling Stevie’s name with Santana’s then Sam and Mercedes entered the room as he announced “and let us all welcome for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Sam and Mercedes Evans.” On the raised platform next to the DJ dais, Tim and Faith stood in front of the band comprised of Sam’s guitarist, Mercedes’ pianist, Sam’s drummer, Mercedes’ bassist and one of Sam’s and two of Mercedes’ background singers. As the two very much and still in love country singers serenaded the couple with one of their most beautiful songs, ‘I Need You’, Sam pulled Mercedes to him in the center of the floor and led her into a sweet and simple foxtrot. Sam had worked with Mike for hours when he was traveling to learn to dance. Mercedes had taken classes in college, so she was easily able to keep step with him. They didn’t separate, just moved into an easy waltz as Tim and Faith transitioned smoothly into ‘It’s Your Love’. 

The couple was joined on the floor by their wedding party as the DJ started the next track, ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’. Then Mercedes danced with her father and her grandfathers; first with Alfred to ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ and then Kenneth to Justin Timberlake’s cover of Randy Travis’ ‘He Walked on Water’ and finally Gerard to Collin Raye’s Love Me’. Sam took the floor next leading Ophelia through a waltz to Bill Wither’s ‘Grandma’s Hands’, he danced with his newly minted mother-in-law to Anne Murray’s‘Can I Have This Dance’. Smiling when about half way through the song, Dwight led Mercedes on the dance floor. He took a turn around the floor with his own mother to ‘Through the Years’ by Kenny Rogers. Once the ‘List dances’ were out of the way, people were offered the chance to hit the bar and mingle or hit the dance floor and enjoy the music. Alfred’s voice came over the mike announcing that everyone would be seated for dinner in half an hour. 

During the break, Mercedes, Kurt and Deja disappeared up the stairs to a small bridal salon where everything had been set up for her quick change. She slipped her feet out of her, oh so beautiful, Christian Louboutin Top Vague scalloped crystal red sole pumps before presenting Kurt with her back allowing him to unbutton the long row of pearl buttons down her back. Kurt removed the veil and Deja fluffed up Mercedes curls. Working together they quickly had Mercedes out of the ball gown and she stood in the middle of the room wearing a strapless, whiter than white, Evie bridal basque by Panache, super sheer stockings which were attached to the basque via four wide garter straps and further held in place by two white and blue garters, the one on her left thigh actually pinned to the strap from the basque by the sapphire and diamond butterfly her grandfather had given her the night before. She, Kurt, Deja and the mothers had gone round and round first as to the need for a second gown and then on what she should look for. 

While on a tour stop in Manhattan, Mercedes had thought that she had found the perfect thing in a gorgeous Zac Posen sateen, double layer mermaid gown, but then her mother had raised the point that if it wasn’t something she would find easier to dance in, what was the point of changing at all. Then she had decided to get a short dress from the Ines De Santos line, but hadn’t really liked either of them and there wasn’t really time to customize any of them. Then she had found a Pnina Tornai that she’d though was perfect…only to find that it would need entirely different foundation garments and still might not be able to ensure that she didn’t end up flashing anyone over the course of the night. Finally Kurt had brought her ‘The Gown’ she needed. 

The dress was perfectly diamond white. It had a boned, duchesse satin, corset top that had a wide semicircular swath of Swarovski Crystals and seed pearls that drew attention to Mercedes already impressive and eye catching breasts. The dress’ crystal and pearl embossed halter straps were made from semi sheer silk organza. Its skirt was layers of silk organza and silk tulle over a duponi silk micro-mini skirt, the floaty, breezy, layers were cut to mid-thigh in the front and fell to pool around her feet at the back. Deja freshened her make-up and gave her a sultry smoky eye and glossy wine red lips and made sure that her heirloom combs were staying in place for the rest of the evening. Finally Mercedes slipped her feet into Giudeppe Zanotti satin slingback sandal, electric blue that gave her an extra five inches of height. Less than fifteen minutes after leaving the reception, they reappeared and Sam flew to Mercedes’ side.

“Oh my God Mercedes…”Sam breathed. “I thought that you were beautiful at the church, but damn Darlin’ we might need to skip the dancing and head straight to the deflowering.” He whispered darkly in her ear. 

Mercedes gave him a total side eye. “My momma would kill us dead, then your momma would raise us back up just so she could kill us her damn self. Plus too, those hors d'oeuvres were awesomesauce, but they were just appetizers and that was like an hour ago.” She chided. 

Sam nodded solemnly. “Yes, we must make sure that we keep your strength up.” His grin turned salacious leaving no doubt in his bride’s mind as to what he was referring.

He kissed her lightly and took her hand to lead her back onto the dance floor. The couple shared a slow, sensual dance to Avant featuring Keke Wyatt singing ‘You & I’. They were so completely in love with and enraptured in each other, they didn’t notice Santana, Puck, Kurt and Mike taking the stage with the band. As the smooth R&B song ended the band struck up a bluesy country guitar riff. Santana’s rich alto delivered a jazzed up version of The Band Perry’s ‘Better Dig Two’. The fiery Latina found the song rather appropriate…she knew that deep inside that was exactly how strong and deep her friends’ relationship was. LuLu took the side eye Mercedes threw at her friend as a signal and as soon as the song was over she opened the doors to the dining room. There were thirty seven round tables and thirty eight square ones. Each of the round tables was covered with a large round steel gray table cloth with a smaller sapphire blue square of cloth over it. The square tables were done in the reverse; steel gray rounds topped sapphire blue squares. On each table the center pieces were prettily arranged round blue trays sat under the cubes holding the floral arrangements. At each corner of the cube was a small tea light in a crystal holder. There were eight full place settings at each of the tables and at the head of the room looking out on the grounds, the rectangular head table there were three of the centerpieces arranged down its length and fourteen place settings. The two chairs in the middle of the table were more ornate than the twelve on either side of them. 

As Tank, Simon and Pam led the grandparents to the table nearest the head table and the bride and groom’s parents joined them as did both Shelby and Beth, Sam led Mercedes to the head table and settled her in her chair before taking his own. Stevie sat beside Mercedes and Santana sat on Sam’s other side. The rest of the bridal party arranged themselves in alternating genders, according to the place cards in the pretty pewter fleur de lis card holders and settled in their chairs as the rest of the tables quickly filled. LuLu’s staff had followed the seating charts exactly and were able to help everyone find their seats efficiently. As soon as everyone was seated, Father Ignatius offered a blessing and the wait staff started bringing out the first course. The salad course offered the guests a garden salad with spinach, romaine, purple onion, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers and a selection of house made dressings. As their guests consumed the delicious salad, Stevie stood and gave the Best Man’s toast, telling the assembled guests how much he loved his big brother and how happy he was that Sam had found his ‘forever’ in her. The Best Man’s toast was followed by Santana’s wildly inappropriate but desperately hilarious Maid of Honor toast. Sam’s rejoinder was filled with glowing compliments and true love…it made many of the women in the audience cry. Then Alfred’s toast, detailing the hopes and dreams a father has for a daughter and how they were met in Sam, it definitely got the rest. Finally Mary and Connie gave everyone looks that communicated without words that it was time to end the toasts. That allowed the wait staff to remove the first course and serve the second. The soup course offered everyone a choice of chicken and sausage gumbo over rice or seafood gumbo with shrimp, crab, and crawfish also over rice. 

The guests had been given their choice of entrée within their invitations. They had the choice between option one; shrimp and crab stuffed phyllo or fried shrimp, catfish, oysters, and soft shell crabs with shrimp Etoufée over rice and Boursin creamed spinach. Option two; roast beef Wellington in puff pastry with horseradish sauce served with green bean bundles wrapped in bacon, asparagus with hollandaise sauce and roasted herb potatoes. The third option they were presented with was Italian breaded pork chops, roasted carrots, buttered broccoli, and baked sweet potatoes w/ butter & brown sugar. Sam had put forth a fourth option, because he didn’t like the beef choice, he called it frou-frou. So the mothers had added a steak option; Steak Diane an eight ounce sirloin steak, which they offered with tri-vegetable medley, Greek style zucchini and loaded baked potatoes. Vegetarian plates were available to those who requested it, but in the end only two or three people did. 

In fact, the only people who came all the way down to New Orleans and didn’t get the seafood were either strictly vegan or had food allergies that prevented them from enjoying the fruits of the sea. After the entrée, the staff served a palate cleanser of lemon sorbet. They returned to the ball room for dancing while the dining room was cleared and reset for the cutting of the cake and dessert. While everyone was eating Tank and Pamela had slipped out, taken Mercedes gown and shoes as well as Deja’s tools took those back to the Ritz Carlton and moved Mercedes and Sam’s luggage to their suite in the Windsor Court Hotel. They made it back and joined in all the dancing and partying while Santana and Puck slipped out to decorate the Silver Cloud…within the venue’s barely rigid guidelines…before coming back in and helping herd everyone back into the dining room for the cake cutting. The cake was a seven tiered beautiful snow white cake with blue and silver sworls and swirls decorating the entire thing, on the top rested a stylized, entangled S&M. the cake was comprised of white butter layers with Italian cream filling, alternating with moist yellow layers with chocolate praline filling. Unbeknownst to Mercedes and Sam the top layer they were to freeze and have the next year was handmade by their Grand’Mere…German chocolate with coconut pecan frosting as its filling. As Sam and Mercedes did the cake cutting ceremony, the DJ played ‘I Swear’ over the plantation’s sound system. Sam carefully set the bite of cake on Mercedes tongue. She rubbed her piece against his lips, then after feeding it to him, she kissed away the sticky mess. 

As soon as the ‘ceremony’ was complete, the guests were allowed to go through a brownie and ice cream bar and a second dessert buffet where the cake was the last of a multitude of selections including ramekins of crème brulée with fresh berries and power sugar that could be added, fresh-decoratable-mini donuts, espresso topped dark chocolate mousse shots, a wide selection of cupcakes in homage to Sam’s first Valentine’s gesture, and a strawberry shortcake station. Once everyone had café au lait or coffee and their desserts, it was back into the ballroom where they experienced the traditional removal of the garter, caught by one Noah Puckerman, and the tossing of the bouquet, caught by one Santana Lopez. A spotlight dance for them experienced a last minute change when the groom asked to sing. Sam took the stage with a quickly assembled amalgamation of their musicians and treated the entire room to a cover of ‘Who You Love’, Mercedes joined him on the second verse and by the end of the night even the most cynical soul believed in the magic of their love. 

 

Windsor Court Hotel  
Premier Suite on the Club Level   
Sunday, December 13th, 2020   
New Orleans, LA

When Sam and Mercedes arrived at the Windsor Court, the concierge was awaiting their arrival. They were shown to a ‘Club Level’ suite on the very top floor of the hotel. The room was beautiful with its Classic English/French Vogue décor, a separate bedroom containing a king sized bed and a bathroom showcasing the best Italian marble that money could buy. Their luggage had already been unpacked by Sam’s trusted stylist, so not only were they completely unpacked, but there was a black silk boxer and robe se laid out on one side of the bed for him, and a white Carine Gilson décolleté V silk satin with lace nightie and matching floor length silk robe for her. 

“If I may, in the butler’s pantry, we have left you our finest pink champagne. Ms. Jones, I remember reading that you had a particular preference for the pinks. It is a lovely Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé 1999,” the excitable little concierge told them happily. He showed them the refreshment area where the champagne was in a silver ice bucket and on a silver tray next to it were two gorgeous Baccarat champagne flutes. “That is with our compliments. Your bodyguard brought over a beautiful arrangement of some of the hor d’oeurves from your reception and I placed it into the refrigerator in the butler’s pantry myself. Allow me to extend my personal congratulations to both of you in addition to those of the management and staff of the Windsor Court.” Hs finished as he let himself out of the room. 

“Alone at last.” Sam said with a smile pulling Mercedes into his arms. “Just me and my beautiful wife.” He almost giggled. 

Mercedes did giggle. “So, now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?’ her voice was soft and sultry as she asked the dangerous question.

Sam’s smile was full of dirty promise. “Oh, Darlin’…if you knew what all I wanted to do to you’d run scream to the nearest courthouse begging for an annulment.” 

A shiver ran down Mercedes spine. Sometimes Sam made her feel like a well-trained puppy, in the best possible way…he said something in the right tone of voice and she got wet and horny quick, fast and in a hurry. Her panties were immediately flooded and she couldn’t help but lean even deeper into his embrace. “Like what? What dirty, nasty, filthy things do you want to do to your poor little virginal bride?” 

Sam shocked Mercedes by picking her up into a bridal carry and took her through the French doors that separated the bedroom from the rest of the suite. He sat her back on her feet and gently wrapped his arms around her. Sam stared deeply into Mercedes lovely brown eyes, very slowly he lowered his lips to hers. A sweet, sexy, little whimper slipped from her when their lips locked together, her hands tightened their hold on his lapels. The kiss they shared, the first deeply passionate one of their marriage was hard and deep as Sam’s soft lips pressed against Mercy’s even softer ones. Mercedes wasn’t the same type of virgin she’d been ten months before. She was still physically innocent, but no longer completely naïve. Her tongue slid deep into Sam’s mouth, searching for his. It quickly found it, and as their tongues started playing together Sam could feel her large, softly firm breasts rolling against his with her every panting breath. Each of her breathy, passionate moans that slipped into Sam’s mouth drove him crazy. He held her even tighter, enjoying the feel of her in his arms too much to move, even forward onto the next step. 

But Mercedes wasn’t gonna be deterred. Despite enjoying Sam’s kisses even more than she had never fully realized was even possible, she pulled back and repeated her question. “What are you planning on doing to me, Sam? I know you’ve been holding back when we fool around so that you didn’t press me further than I was ready to go, but in the words of The Color Purple ‘I’s married now’…So no more holding back. I want all of you Sam. Every bit of want and desire and need you’ve been hiding or taking care of yourself, its mine now Samuel…I want it all.” 

“Ooohhh Gooood! Baby…Fuck, are you sure?” He ground his erection against her the corset bones adding extra friction to the action that almost made him weak in the knees. Mercedes looked him in the eyes and nodded. “I want to strip you out of this ridiculously expensive dress and feast on those big titties of yours, worrying them with my teeth and tongue, until you scream and cum all over my belly, but this time there won’t be a shred of nothing in between us. Darlin’, I want to suck and nibble and bite at those sexy long little nipples until they are positively sore. I want to rip those panties off your body and finally shove my face between those pretty brown thighs and lick and suck and see exactly what makes you lose your damn mind.” He growled. “God, Merc, I want to feel your hot little hand back on my dick then feel your wrap your gorgeous lips around it. I want to see how deep down your pretty little throat I can shove my dick before you gag. Then I’m gonna have you wrap those tits around my cock and…oohhh, I’m gonna fuck your tits and pull on your nipples until I shoot my cum all over ‘em.”   
Mercedes eyes glossed over, she had never had the same words in her mind, but she sure as hell had imagined everything he was talking about. “I…Oh God Sam…I want you to do that too.” She moaned burying her face in his chest in abject humiliation at wanting something so dirty, so naughty.

Her words were softly uttered, but they egged Sam on even more than they would have if she had shouted them from the roof tops. “Mercy Darlin’…will you let me fuck your sexy face and will you swallow my dick and my cum for me? Will you let me eat your hot little pussy and soak my face with your hot, sweet pussy juice? Will you let me fuck your pretty little pussy…pop your precious cherry…fill you up in every way you’ve ever dreamed of?”

“You want to fuck me there too?” Mercedes pulled back in surprise. 

Sam looked confused. “Either you are confused as to what people are talking about when they say insert Tab A into Slot B, or you’ve been having some dirty, nasty, filthy thoughts of your own that you haven’t shared with me.” He finally said to her.

“Wait, what were you talking about?” she hedged. 

“I was talking about making love to you…by fucking your pussy. But you weren’t, were you…you were talking about…” 

She took a deep breath, mentally pulled on her big girl panties and whispered, “I just always figure that once I was married, there wouldn’t be anything I didn’t at least try.” At the look of shock on Sam’s face, she got defensive. “Well it was all your idea in the first place. ‘By the end of our sixth month together you wouldn’t have had any virginities left…and depending on what you’re into I might not have either’.” She poked him in the chest. 

“Actually I said it would be by the end of month five…I remember; it was the very first time I got my mouth on your big, sexy titties.” Sam smiled. His big hands smoothing over her lush curves still encased in satin. “And you have no idea how much I’m looking forward to getting there. I just wasn’t as sure that you were looking forward to it too Darlin’. But that is the advanced course…you’re talking three or four hundred level LoveMaking. We’re still in second semester freshman year. Let’s get the basics down and then we can build on the foundation.” 

Mercedes searched her new husband’s eyes. She could see the fires banked in his eyes, they were burning higher than he usually let them go, but it still just wouldn’t do. “Well…that still leaves us with two other orifices that you need to defile with your long, thick cock…two other places that I need to have filled up.” She whispered as she worked on his bow tie and the tiny buttons of his tuxedo shirt. Looking up she licked her lips, “I was married in a catholic church…I think that officially means that I should be good at giving head, at least that’s what the porn movies Santana and I watched to get me ready for you made it seem like. I wanna try it. I bet you could teach me how to blow your mind.”   
Sam stopped. He didn’t move, he didn’t breathe, hell, he didn’t blink. “You…” his voice cracked so he cleared his throat and tried again. “You wanna suck my cock?” he repeated. “And you watched pornos…did you like them?” Mercedes cheeks visibly flushed giving her thoughts away. “You did. You liked the porno” God, he loved his innocent little dirty woman. “You know you could always watch one while you’re sucking me off. Wait…too advanced…we should get you out of your dress and we can shower and then we can start simple…” 

A smirk crossed Mercedes face. “With you sucking my titties until they are ‘positively sore’?” 

Sam nodded and spun Mercedes around so he could untie the wide white bands of ribbon that held her dress closed. “Thank you so much for not making me have to undo the million and a half buttons that your other dress had.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck as he carefully untied the silk organza halter revealing the two buttons the bow had hidden. “You looked amazing in both, but the one you had on at the church was very good girl…this one is way more naughty. God, watching your pretty brown thighs all night forced me to have to take care of myself in that special bathroom they had off the salon at the plantation. Couldn’t help but remember you begging me to cum on them for you.” He pressed more kisses to her shoulders. With the dress fully open, Sam took care of the nine hooks holding her basque together. His big hot hands with their calloused fingers worked at massaging away the lines the boning had left in her skin. “But even beyond the sexiness of this dress and the elegance of the other one, I know that there has never been a more beautiful bride in the history of the world than you my Mercy.” 

Without another word, he helped her step out of the dress that had pooled at her feet. While she finished undressing, Sam took the gown and laid it out on the sofa in the other room. He took off the tuxedo jacket and hung it neatly over the back of a chair. His shirt was laid over that. Naked to the waist, he returned to the bedroom. Mercedes had rid herself of most of the rest of her finery and was sitting on the foot of the bed working the brooch from her remaining garter. Her stockings were laying on the dresser and her lingerie was laying beside it. Sam smiled at the beautiful picture she made. He walked over, tilted her chin up and gave her a slow, lingering kiss. Taking the stubbornly entrenched pin and garter from her grasp, he commanded, “I’ve got this. Go shower.” 

Mercedes chuckled. “I was actually waiting on you to help me with my jewelry. The clasps on the real shit ain’t no joke.” She lifted her hair and gave him her back again. Sam laughed as he helped her with the necklace and the bracelet she had worn all day. She took those from him and put those, the DuBois combs, her something blue brooch and her earrings into a special lockable jewelry box. 

“I just want to point out again, I cannot believe that you repurposed a biometrics gun safe for your jewelry.” Sam teased. 

A Kanye shrug thrown over her shoulder as she grabbed the negligee and robe from the bed before heading into the bathroom. “What? It works. It works better than anything else I’ve found so far. But as an added measure of defense, will you please find the in room safe and lock it up for me.” She closed the door and Sam did as bid. 

After making use of the primary purpose of the bathroom, being in dresses where you’d need help to pee and drinking large amounts of champagne had tested even her camel like bladder, Mercedes wrapped her hair up on top of her head and showered quickly but efficiently. Drying off was almost a pleasure with the hotel’s amazing thick, fluffy towels. She lotioned her whole body and slid on the sumptuous silk nightie and robe. She slipped on a pair of slippers and walked into the bedroom. To find Sam down to his black boxer briefs waiting patiently for his chance in the facilities. He slid past her carefully not touching her. “If I touch you right now, I’m gonna end up fucking you right here in this doorway. You are that unbelievably gorgeous. But, as amazing as that would be, I’ve gotta piss like a racehorse.” 

Her laughter followed him into the bathroom. However, Mercedes had a few things to do before he finished and she knew that he wouldn’t take as long as she had. Moving quickly she cleaned up her lingerie then raced out, and locked the other door locks. Then she turned to the butler pantry and brought the champagne bucket and cork screw into the bedroom. She returned and grabbed the saran wrapped plate of cake from the reception. She thought about taking the plate of appetizers as well, but decided that the cake was the better choice for them in that moment. Her final trip was just to turn out the lights and grab the champagne flutes. She closed the French doors and found her paddle brush once she had everything arranged the way she wanted it in the room. When Sam came back in, wearing, the boxers and robe Kurt had given him, Mercedes was sitting on the turned down bed brushing out her hair. 

Sam smiled, “I started to walk out here wearing nothing at all but a smile, kind of glad I didn’t. You made everything look pretty.” 

“Well I wasn’t sure if you wanted something to eat or not.” She defended. 

“Oh, I want something to eat all right.” Sam’s smile was dirty as hell. “But it ain’t over there on that plate.” He walked over to her and pulled the brush from her hands. He pulled her to her feet and soon both their robes were tossed towards the dresser. If Mercedes thought the kisses before that night were hot, Sam’s kisses that night were approaching Chernobyl levels of passion and heat. Only when they were both breathless and panting did Sam release her mouth. Sam gently swept Mercedes back up into his arms and laid her on the heavenly sheets. 

He joined her in the bed and their next several minutes of time was spent kissing and caressing each other soon the negligee and boxers were providing more of a nuisance than a security blanket so they divested each other of them. Sam leaned back and marveled at the beauty of Mercedes’ fully naked form. She had always kept on some clothing, at the very least her panties, but usually a nightie or night gown in addition to the tiny scraps of lace she enjoyed teasing him with. “Oh my God Darlin’ you are takin’ my breath.” 

Mercedes eyes roved over Sam just as hungrily. It was a first time for her seeing any man completely naked, even Sam. Having only seen his dick with the cover of his underpants or pajamas bunched around its root, she was startled by how big it really was. Long and thick weren’t quite enough of to state how hot and large he really was. “God Sam, did you get bigger? I don’t know if I can take all of that inside of me.”

Sam smiled a grin of male satisfaction. “Don’t worry, Darlin’ it might be a tight fit, but that’s the best kind.” He captured her lips again, but was surprised when she broke he kiss pretty quickly.

“I want to see something first.” Her left hand with its brand new ring and the one Sam had given her months before, slid down over his chest, down the ridges of his abs and threaded through the dirty brown hair at the root of his tower of man flesh. Slowly, so slowly Sam thought that he would go mad, she wrapped the hand around his dick. “Look Sammy, look at how beautiful my engagement and wedding rings look when my hand is holding you.” She whispered sensuously.

“Oh Darlin’,” Sam groaned. His control snapped. That was so sexy and so erotic…the visible representation of the union made into sex itself. He grabbed her and pulled her to him, pulling her over on top of him, her hips straddling his, the warm, moist heat of her pussy pressing directly against the underside of his cock. They made out kissing and caressing, Sam’s hands pinching and groping her voluptuous ass, Mercedes’s threaded through his thick hair. Sam sucked and nipped his way to her nipples and kept his word. He sucked and bit, nibbled and licked and laved them with his tongue until Mercedes screamed his name and his lap was flooded with her juices. It took all his self-control not to cum then and there, but he was a man on a mission. 

Sam rolled Mercedes under him. He was still fighting the urge to bury himself in her immediately, but he managed. Mercedes wiggled under him for a second, pulling her heels up until they almost touched her butt, opening herself up to him. The fact that her eagerness was equal to his surprised him just a little. The fingers of his left hand slid up and down her pussy and she moaned into his mouth as he kissed her. He wanted to eat her out but he knew how much she would enjoy it if ask her first. "I want to...I want to... taste you Mercedes Evans. I want to suck your pussy until your clit thinks it’s another part of my fucking tongue," he finally said, studying her reaction. Her breath was coming only in the shortest of pants. It was as if she couldn’t draw enough breath to think enough to even respond to his dirty words. "You gonna love this. Do you trust me?"

Her head nodding emphatically, Mercedes watched as Sam slid down her torso planting nipping kisses on her hard and slightly tender nipples as he made his decent. He propped himself up between her legs and pulled one leg over his shoulder. Sam was so excited his dick was leaking precum like a sieve. He wanted to see her reaction to his first lick but she had her eyes closed. Mercedes was tensed as she waited on the first lick praying that she wouldn’t embarrass herself with her extremely high level of arousal. Sam smirked as he thought to himself that he would need to make the first time he ate her pussy long and agonizingly pleasurable.

Sam spent some time kissing and teasing her thighs before he moved in on his target. With great anticipation and patience, he parted her plump, recently waxed lips with his tongue and Mercedes groaned. He moved his tongue up and down her slick folds, growing more aroused himself knowing he was her first, her last, her everything. Sam had tasted her sweet, musky apricot and vanilla juices on his fingers, but there was no comparison to having them straight from the source. His lips and tongue worked against her, seeking more, driving her out of her mind with pleasure. Mercedes' hands grasped helplessly at the bed covers and writhed in ecstasy at this new and amazing sensation.

Mercedes's reactions had him hard as a rock. Their first time ‘foolin’ around’, he hadn't expected her to be so vocal but she always moaned and gasped and groaned and screamed so beautifully for him. His tongue motions sped up. He began focusing more attention on her little bud and began to hum in his mouth to cause a tiny vibration for her. Mercedes was grinding her hips against his mouth telling him it was almost time. Finally after a minute of torture, he bore down and sucked at her feverishly sending her into an orgasmic fit of screaming, twisting, writhing and involuntary hip bucking. When he finally released the nerve bundle, he lapped and sucked at all the juices his attentions had caused her to release. “Fuck Darlin’ I’m eating you three times a day for the rest of my life. You taste so fucking good.” He murmured as he came up over her again. 

“I wanna taste you too.” Mercedes pouted. 

“Tomorrow.” Sam whispered. “Do you want me to get a condom?” he asked. They had discussed it, and they had decided not to use condoms. That wouldn’t change for a couple of years. They were both STD free and with Mercedes having been on the shot for such a very long time they were secure in that method of birth control. But as much as he wanted to experience a first with her to go with all the firsts she shared with him, Sam wanted to make sure of her feelings one last time. 

“No Sam. Just me and you.” She affirmed. "I only need you," Mercedes said and kissed his neck. 

His cock pressing against her proved how much he needed her too. "It will only hurt for a little while and it will be easier if you relax and open up to me, my Darlin’ Mercy." 

Sam checked to make sure that the pause hadn’t decreased her desire for him but as always he touched her and found her dripping wet for him. He saw her eyes were searching his face. She was patiently and trustingly awaiting his penetration but couldn’t resist the thought of seeing him as he entered her for the first time. Sam pressed kiss to her face and neck. She was his and it was time. As he held his cock and positioned the head over her opening he could since her trying to look down at where they would soon be joined. When she was ready he began to move in. He saw her wince a bit but he continued until he had the head in all the way. It was stretching her hymen, threatening to destroy it. Even with all their playing around and even horseback riding her ‘shrink wrap’ hadn’t been stretched out very much at all.

"You're doing so good, Darlin’. Doing beautifully." Mercedes's arms wrapped around him as he began to edge forward in a gentle rocking motion. He decided to withdraw and push back in to this point several times to loosen and moisten her outer labia more. He read the pain on her face but continued as he also heard the pleasure in her moans. He continued this way until he was satisfied that she was ready to take the rest of him. She was so incredibly hot and wet and tight around his head that he was amazed that he was able to control himself.

"I'm about to go all the way in." He saw her eyes widen. "It's going to hurt."

"It hurts, but it feels good too.” She murmured. 

"I haven't even fully popped your cherry yet, Darlin’. Are you ready for it? Ready to be a woman…to be my woman." He felt her clench around the head of his cock, nearly sending him over the edge. "You have to relax, my love." He said it again.

“Easy for you to say,” she groaned. It felt amazingly weird. There was pleasure and there was pain. Even though she had understood from a cognitive stand point that it would hurt, she hadn’t known that it would feel the way it felt. As soon as she released her grip he thrust himself forward into her as far as he could go and Mercedes gasped out a weird sound of discomfort and yet relief.

With a multitude of kisses, Sam comforted her. "The worst part is over. Focus on what feels good. Okay?" He rocked slowly in and out of her and kissed and licked her breasts now riddled with goose bumps. 

A few tears leaked out and slid down her face and into her hair as she whined and moaned. “God Damn Sam. You feel like a fucking baseball bat inside me.” She said even as she continued to rock her hips and wiggle under him.

When her moaning grew steady and started to outnumber her whimpers Sam picked up his pace and began teasing her clit. Sam knew his woman’s body, having her clit or nipples played with did amazing things to her. He strummed the engorged nubbin sending her closer and closer to her ultimate orgasmic destination. He could feel her passion rising and saw her body contorting, writhing and grasping at him desperately. He couldn't last much longer. "Come for me, Darlin’. Come for me, my wife. Come hard for your husband." Sam urged.

"Ahh, GOOOOOOOD SAAMMMMM..." she screamed as she reached her peak and her walls clamped down on him like a vice grip sending him into his own amazingly intense, utterly intense, wonderfully intense orgasm. He rode her bucking and writhing body through their orgasms stretching hers out even as he poured everything within him into her and got all of her in return. Only when the clinching of the wall of her pussy had calmed to soft flutters did Sam allow himself to collapse on the bed beside her. Both Sam and Mercedes were panting, drenched in sweet sweat, they lay apart catching their breath and basking in the afterglow.

Finally he reached over, wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to his side. "Are you alright?"

"I can honestly say that I now know what ‘That hurt so good’ really means," she finally managed to say.   
They dosed off in each other’s arms exhausted and sated and satisfied in a whole new way for both of them. 

Mercedes woke up first. She knew it was silly but after she used the bathroom, very carefully, morning after peeing after her first time was everything Santana had warned her it would be, Mercedes totally pulled a Whitley Gilbert Wayne. She took a quick shower to clean up all of them that had leaked from her in the night. Then she brushed her teeth and hair before heading back into the bedroom and slipping back into the bed. She noticed that the food had been put away and realized that Sam had probably done it when he had gotten up to use the bathroom. She decided that that definitely deserved a reward, plus it was officially tomorrow and she really wanted her chance to taste him. 

She was very careful not to wake him as she moved the covers down his body. He wasn’t a light sleeper, but he wasn’t a super heavy sleeper either. When she woke, Sam had been wrapped around her, but when she returned from the bathroom, he was flat on his back though still knocked out. So getting to his cock, Mercedes secretly loved the very dirty word, was fairly easy. She as she knelt over his barely splayed legs, she wondered what kind of picture she presented. Would Sam find it an erotic sight? Her bent over him, both of them completely naked. Her bountiful breasts swaying as she moved. She slid a little further, licking her lips as she lowered her mouth to him. With pursed lips, she kissed and teased the underside of Sam’s dick until it stood fully for her attention.

She slid her hand around the base of his cock, staring at it for a moment. She still really loved the sight of her rings on her hand as it encircled him. Then she held her breath before licking his slit where a pearl of precum awaited her. Mercedes sighed in relief and delight as she tasted him for the very first time. He pried his eyes open when he felt her lips very gently slide down over the tip. Her tongue made little circles around the tender head of Sam’s cock and it quickly went from fully erect to hard as hell and throbbing in want as Sam groaned, his head slamming back on the bed. Mercedes had the head of Sam cock in her mouth, her lips very lightly surrounding the rim of its wedge-shaped head. She looked up at him to find that his eyes were locked on hers.

“God Darlin’, you look so beautiful down there, with my dick in your sexy little mouth.” She lifted her head for a moment, then covered the tip again. When she pressed she slid easily down the long thick shaft, so easily it surprised her. Mercedes ended up with Sam’s cock deep in her mouth, pressing against the back of her throat. “Oh holy fuck,” he groaned, his hips rolling and pushing him in even deeper. Sam felt her lips tighten around him. It felt amazing. Mercedes tried to remember what she should do next. The only problem was that she had read so many articles online telling her so many different, conflicting things, that she wasn’t exactly sure what should have come next. She decided to go with her gut. The tip of her tongue lightly brushed Sam’s shaft and he moaned and writhed on the bed. Happy with the results of her experiment, she spent the next few moments sliding her tongue up and down, bathing Sam’s cock with warm, slippery wetness. 

She slowly drew her lips up his shaft to the head, and then slowly down again. Sam loved everything she was trying and showed his appreciation with groaned curse words and by rolling his hips in time with her strokes. Sam had known that she would be amazing. And she was. Mercedes was giving him a wonderful blow job, all by luck and having paid attention to what he liked when she used her hands to get him off. Somehow, knowing she had never done this before and was doing it just because she wanted to, made every sensation twice as vivid. Soon Sam was moaning, legs thumping against the bed. His cock was throbbing and the tingling at the base of his spine was getting so intense it took his breath and control away. He wasn’t gonna last so he begged and he pleaded, "Mercedes, oh God, Darlin’ you have to stop!"

She lifted her head in surprise. "Why? I thought you liked it, and I know that I did. Is something wrong?" 

“Oh my God. Mercedes, no! That was wonderful! The trouble is it's too good. A few more seconds and you would have made me cum!"

She nodded proudly. “I thought that was the point. Now give it to me.” She said and lowered her mouth back to engulf Sam again. In minutes she had exactly what she wanted as Sam flooded her mouth with his cum. 

“Fuck!” his voice rang through the room as his hips worked uncontrollably. 

She swallowed everything she could; sucking him deeply as she could. To lessen how much would be able to escape Mercedes formed a seal around the long, thick shaft with her lush lips. After he finished cumming, her lips and tongue chasing down what had escaped her seal had him hard and throbbing again in no time. Sam rolled her under him and when he found her wet and ready once again, he thrust home making them both cry out. They moved together, wrapped around each other, fully consumed in giving love to and receiving love from each other, until they were rocked with pleasure so strong that neither could move any more. 

Knowing that he had probably been wrong taking her again and fucking her so hard so soon after her first time, Sam ran them a bubble bath in the room’s Jacuzzi tub and they spent the rest of the morning soaking and nibbling on the hor d’oeurves from the night before. The young and in love couple didn’t make it out of the room for the first two days of their marriage. Mercedes had gotten her vintage Louboutin leopard print boots and found a sexy little leopard print corset mini-dress and while Sam didn’t get his ‘wedding gift’ the first night they were married, he did get it the third. As he lay panting next to her, both of them spent Mercedes completely naked except for the boots, Sam officially swore that he was ‘going to personally buy Christian Louboutin a damn fine bottle of Kentucky Bourbon for designing those shoes’. They didn’t make it out for more than food, aka dinner with Grand’Mere and Grand’Pere, and a couples’ massage until they checked out on the seventeenth. Those only cracked their love bubble because they were pre-arranged and the, oh-so-helpful, concierge knew about then, otherwise they would have lived off room service until they checked out.

 

EPILOGUE

The Jones-Evans Residence  
3591 Paris Pike   
Friday, December 12th, 2025  
Lexington KY

As she dressed for dinner, Mercedes mind wandered back over the five years since her and Sam’s wedding. When they made it to Mercedes’ home in LA after their mini honeymoon it was to find that the house they were buying together was entering the closing process and that Santana and Puck had gone to Vegas when they left New Orleans. They had found a wedding chapel where Beth could be with them when they tied the knot and they jumped the proverbial broom. They had their honeymoon in Santana’s bedroom. But when they found out about the marriage, she gave them the townhouse as their wedding gift. Santana hugged her so hard the chocolate diva claimed that the Latina had saved her a visit to the chiropractor by readjusting her spine for her. Santana was all the more glad that she had used the time the couple was still in New Orleans to get her calligrapher friend to send out all the thank you cards for their wedding gifts. Sam and Mercedes had received many traditional gifts despite asking that donations be made to several worthy causes in lieu of gifts. Sam was so grateful that he wouldn’t have to help Mercedes doing all those thank you notes that he and the guys helped Puck move to Cali before they moved Mercedes to Tennessee. 

By the end of January, Sam and Mercedes were officially in their new home, just in time for Mercedes to leave for her European tour. Sam logged an ass load of frequent flyer miles joining her whenever he could. He also worked on the redecorating projects they wanted to complete. They were able to join the cast of the Avengers series for the London opening of Infinity War part three, the movie they had talked about on and since their first date. It shocked no one who knew either woman that Mercedes and Kat Dennings became fast friends. They both enjoyed a lot of the same things and faced many of the same stupid criticisms about their bodies. They also both handled those criticisms with the same ‘Fuck the Haters’ attitude. However despite what their haters and detractors may have claimed, whenever the two women hugged in public and it was captured on film, the lotion and lubricant industries experienced a huge boom. 

Sam and Mercedes spent their first Valentine’s Day as man and wife in Paris. Dinner in the city of lights had them falling asleep before they could actually make love, but since they had begun the morning by bringing each other pleasure they both felt it counted. Before he flew back to the states a few days later to be at their home while it was getting a brand new roof, Sam visited Christian Louboutin in his flagship Paris store and presented him with a bottle of Eagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon 10 YO Whiskey, a bottle of Glenlivet 21 Year Old Archive, and a bottle of Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé 1999. When the country star explained to the fashion icon why he had brought him the gifts, Louboutin could not fail to express his hilarity and love at the display of love for his work. Within six weeks, a package was couriered to Mercedes’ hotel room in Rome, inside she found three pairs of specially designed red bottom stilettos, a pair of thigh high boots in black suede and leopard print, a pair of pumps in purple suede and Swarovski crystals and a pair of chocolate brown sandals. Along with a contract to make her one of the ‘faces of Louboutin’ much like Sarah Jessica Parker had been over a decade before. When Sam joined her again they broke in all three pairs. 

Mercedes dedication to her craft and tour were shown in her efficient and well planned tour schedule. Both the European and Asian legs of ‘The Have Mercy’ World Tour went better than anyone could have dreamed and in seven different countries she had to add shows to keep up with the crowds. When Sam joined her, they would write and make love. The crowds loved it when Sam would join her on stage. One of the music bloggers actually figured out how to find out ahead of time if Sam was going to be on the stop each night and blog it out ahead of time. The scalpers could almost guarantee bidding wars for their tickets on those nights, the official ticket vendors had sold out months before. The only place where the crowds didn’t seem to love Sam’s presence as much was the Japanese stops. However when one realized that Mercedes was the number one sex symbol throughout the country, it really shouldn’t have been that surprising.

When they came back to their home, they were just in time to make their way to LA to witness Santana graduate from law school magna cum laude. Puck was proud as punch. Thankfully their mothers had finally forgiven them for eloping. Santana waited until she passed the Bar and officially joined Mercedes’ legal team to tell them that she was pregnant. It was during Santana’s pregnancy that the tabloid journalists finally realized that trying to go in on Mercedes Jones –Evans was completely idiotic. She had given Santana carte blanche in dealing with the paps and tabloids. Santana took all her pregnancy hormones, which really only exacerbated her natural rage issues, out on the so called journalists. When one of them chose to do an interview with a recently traded to the Green Bay Packers Tinsley as to how he felt about the speed with which Sam and Mercedes’ relationship had moved, Santana went after both of them and the rag for which the ‘journalist’ worked for defamation and libel. In addition to having to pay Mercedes another million dollars, Shane ended up paying off all of Santana’s student loans…she reported her legal fees at just two thousand bucks more than the eighty five thousand she owed for her education…and In Touch had pay the ‘Chocolate Diva’ so much they ended up having to declare bankruptcy and go out of print. A few months of hearing how Mercedes Jones was trying to hinder freedom of expression, Santana got hard core pissed off. So much so that she managed to get more than a few of the more liberal celebrities who were constantly being bashed by Fox news together in a class action lawsuit that ended the reign of Rupert Murdoch in an explosive hail of legal fire. 

While Santana was becoming the most well known name in litigation since Johnny Cochran, Kurt was slowly but surely becoming a force to be reckoned with in fashion. Having designed Mercedes and Santana’s gowns for the 2020 Grammys and the Mercedes reception dress, Kurt was quickly offered positions at several fashion houses. But he didn’t want to move to Paris long term and New York held too many bad memories. Instead he found investors; Mercedes, Sam, Garth and Trisha, Tim and Faith, Chris Bridges, John Legend and Chrissy Teagan, and a few others of Mercedes’ industry friends; and started his own fashion house based out of Chicago. He designed clothing for fashionistas of every size and lingerie for women with voluptuous curves. In the first year after he released his full line he managed to shatter records in sales of both evening wear and lingerie. After graduating with degrees in both graphic and fashion design, Stacey joined him at DIVA as a junior designer; her lingerie was already being met with worldwide acclaim. Kurt still made time to design all of Mercedes’ stage apparel. He said he couldn’t trust anyone else to know how to properly showcase her body in a way that she was comfortable with. Kurt was also responsible for Mercedes’ Grammy gown every year. His designing for her had become both a tradition and a good luck charm for both of them. He and Slick had been together for about eighteen months when they had had an amicable break-up, only to get back together less than a year later when Kurt finally admitted to himself that Slick was it for him. They married two months later in an elegantly understated ceremony.

Six months after the end of Mercedes world tour Sam released his next album, it broke the country charts. His ‘Different Kind of Man’ tour even managed to out sell Chesney’s summer tour, selling enough tickets to rival Garth Brooks at the height of his heyday. Mercedes often came out on stage with him and they spent his tour much as they had spent hers, writing and making love. Six months after that Mercedes released her next album. Talking things over with Faith and Tim and Trisha and Garth, Sam and Mercedes made the decision to alternate their record releases and tours which would allow them to tour together for the most part. That time spent together really allowed them to have a strong marriage despite all the craziness of their industry. 

Within three years after their New Orleans wedding, Both Sam and Mercedes were considered to be at the pentacle of their careers. Sam had even won a Best Original Song Oscar a song he wrote for a Dreamworks animated film. Mercedes won an Emmy for a recurring guest spot she did on Agent Carter, which reappeared on Agents of Shield through the use of prosthetics and aging makeup. That two year long, recurrent part had actually led to Mercedes being offered a starring role in a Broadway musical. It took her a lot of soul searching, but in the end she decided to decline the offer, mainly because it would have been opposite Rachel Berry as the first supporting actress. It just wasn’t worth it to the ‘Chocolate Diva’. Berry had taken the lead and the first supporting was given to Ariana Grande…then to Elizabeth Gilles…then to China Ann McClain…the truth was that people could only seem to work with Berry for three or four months before they found some other ‘irresistible’ opportunity that ended their Broadway run. 

Ultimately it proved to be the best decision for both Mercedes and Sam. He was offered a small part in a movie that was filming in Nashville and it would have meant months apart, including their fifth wedding anniversary. They had worked hard to ensure that they had never been apart for any of their anniversaries. They even attended the Grammys together each and every year to commemorate the night they met. For their fifth anniversary, Mercedes had planned huge family dinner party at their ranch. She planned every last detail so that everything would be perfectly special. She had been working very hard to hold in the secret she was getting ready to share with her whole family…not even Sam knew. As soon as everyone was there and seated; Tank had even been nice enough to go and get Ophelia and Kenneth from the airport, Not that he had a lot of choice, he had married Tasha the year before so they were his grandparents too; the first course was served by the wait staff she’d hired to augment the small staff that the local caterer she’d hired for the dinner provided. One was dedicated to making sure that her wine glass and champagne flute were filled from different bottles than everyone else. She almost hated to have to hire someone from outside to cook for her family but there were just too many of them and she got tired way to easily to be able to handle the cooking herself.

Mercedes had taken as much care in dressing for the dinner as she had in picking the caterer and menu. Her body hadn’t undergone a lot of changes at that point, just a rather remarkable increase in her cup size. But while she had been shopping for some new lingerie, she’d also found a great ivory fit and flare sweater dress that looked cute and demure without looking matronly or momish. The angora wool was a rosy ivory color that shown against her skin and made one think she was glowing due to the pretty dress rather than having them guess the real reason. She found a pair of three inch cage wedge sandals in brown suede that she loved and decided to wear with the pretty dress. One of the things she loved about Lexington was that she could actually shop by herself and she’d get quite a few people who politely asked for autographs, but she never got mobbed or risked popping up on some rag mag. Looking down though, she knew that Kurt was going to have to pull forward his plans for his lingerie line by a year or so. Finding bras in her size had drifted from difficult in high school to hard as hell by the time she fully matured to damn near impossible in the previous month or so. 

The family was happy to have any excuse to get together and celebrating the SamCedes anniversary was a great one. The fact that no one, except Trey because he never got a whole month off, would really be going home until after Christmas just meant that they would get in some great family time. Stevie was happy to have survived his first semester of med school at John Hopkins and he was actually the one to suggest that they all just stay over until the holiday was over. With the two large guest houses that had been built on the property in addition to the extra room in the bunk house, it wasn’t a hard thing to make happen. It was their first night there, the actual anniversary, and they were gathered around the custom made dinner table, the only one in the whole family that sat all of them, to enjoy a meal with family and friends. The first course was a baby spinach and baby shrimp salad with arugula and a sweet white peppercorn dressing. The second was a baby potato and cheese chowder…her mother and Mary started exchanging looks across the table. Everyone had learned long ago that to sit them next to each other meant they would giggle like school girls instead of paying attention to the world around them. The women were the very best of friend and spoke at least once or twice a day. The two, long married couples, vacationed together once a year and often took getaways together in between their big vacations.

Seeing the looks on her mothers’ faces, Mercedes knew the gig was up. Before the staff could bring out the baby back ribs, she stood and smiled at everyone. “Thank you all for coming to celebrate our fifth anniversary with us. It means so much to me and Sam to see how much we are loved. In the last five years we’ve seen this family grow and change so much. Santana and Puck got married and gave us Gavin. Toni and Tray gave us Helena and then got married. Kurt and Slick married and adopted Camille and Carter. Tasha and Tank got married…we are a huge family because we tend to drag everyone in our orbit into it. That being said…I have an announcement to make.” She placed her free hand on her belly, “This family will be getting bigger in roughly seven months.” 

Sam jumped up beside his wife. “We’re…you’re…” He was so happy and excited that he couldn’t even form words. All he could do was to grab his wife and the soon to be mother of his child and kiss her so long and so deep that it made most of the table uncomfortable and just made Santana and Puck horny. They had talked about and made the decision that Mercedes would go off her shot. But that had only been during their Fourth of July picnic. He’d never expected that she would actually get pregnant that fast. 

Halfway down the table Connie and Mary started loudly congratulate the expectant parents and everyone joined in. Puck jumped up and said loudly that the kid’s name should be Noah since he’d made sure that their parents met. Santana pulled him back down into his seat and whispered something in his ear. Puck paled to the same color as the barely ivory table cloth on the table. “Holy hell fire and brimstone…Hot Mama and Sexy Mama pregnant at the same time…Tank, Trigger, we took that job doing security for the King William’s American tour, I’m gone take the lead on that.” Santana punched him in the side. “See, you’re already violent. I have seen what happens when you and Cedes get mad at the same time I’m way too bad ass to get taken out by two violent pregnant women.”

Sam watched and fell just a little more in love with his chocolate diva as she threw back her head and laughed in total, unabashed delight. It had all started with that same laughter ringing over the red carpet six years before and he was so glad that it had. He was happier then he’d ever known was possible. And soon he was going to be a daddy. Sometimes he still wondered how different their life would be if they had met way back in high school…but standing there he realized that if they had met back then for real, then they would have just been at that same point five years sooner, because God has his plans. You could call it fate or call it divine design but no matter what you called it…what God meant for you to have you would receive because the simple truth was that whatever will be, will be.


End file.
